Fire Shadow's Son
by Quill of Molliemon
Summary: AU, post-Valley of the End. What if Kakashi made it to the valley in time? What if the events of the Kyuubi's defeat played out differently? How would things turn out then? Yondaime lives! Please read and review!
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto (obviously), I'm making no money on this, so please don't sue...

**Notes:** AU, post-Valley of the End. What if Kakashi caught up just in time and caught Sasuke before he fled? And what if the events of the Kyuubi's defeat were a little different?

_This story is a work-in-progress; updates will be sporadic at best..._

* * *

** Prologue **

Hatake Kakashi had been in many battles and seen many amazing things in his career as a ninja. He was the son of Konoha's White Fang, a great ninja who had ended in disgrace. He'd studied under Konoha's Yellow Flash, now Konohagakure no Sato's Yondaime Hokage. He'd been gifted with a Sharingan eye from his deceased friend and teammate, Uchiha Obito. He had lived through war. He had lived through the attack of a terrible demon.

However, in all his wide and varied experience, he had never witnessed anything like this.

Crouched at the foot of the memorial statues in the Valley of the End were two of his three students. One was distorted almost beyond recognition with gray skin, claws, long gray hair, and freakish wing-like webbed hands sprouting from his shoulder blades. The other was completely covered in demonic crimson chakra that formed a sort of armor in the silhouette of the fox monster he'd last seen thirteen years before, his eyes red and slitted, whisker marks wide and black on his cheeks, fangs bared, and claws flexing. The gray one had gathered a fistful of crackling lightning that spewed tainted black sparks. The fox-shrouded one cradled a swirling sphere of raw violet chakra that was edged in a red aura.

It was a twisted, terrifying replay of their earlier duel atop the hospital back in the village. That time he'd been able to stop them. But this time, as he raced over the surface of the lake towards the statues and the waterfall, he couldn't stop them. At some signal only they were aware of, they lunged at each other and smashed their attacks together.

The light, the noise, and the wind generated by the blast was incredible. It took all of Kakashi's skill and strength to keep from tumbling end over end to the other side of the valley. Poor little Pakkun, his favorite Summon, was forced to cling to Kakashi's pant leg with his teeth to keep from being swept away by the explosion. Even with Obito's powerful eye, he couldn't see a thing at the eye of the storm.

And then it was over.

Desperate and dreading what he would find, Kakashi dove through the misty curtain of the ruined waterfall. Uchiha Sasuke was still standing. Uzumaki Naruto was not. Kakashi struck quickly, a sharp blow to the back of the neck, and then Sasuke wasn't standing either. Both lay limply on the stone ground, soaking wet and stripped of their monstrous forms.

"Why'd you knock him out?" Pakkun asked, poking Sasuke with a tiny paw.

"I'm not interested in fighting him all the way home," Kakashi sighed and bound him up tightly with wire. "After that stunt I don't dare trust him."

When Sasuke was restrained to his satisfaction, he slung the unconscious boy over his shoulder and moved to inspect the other boy.

Naruto looked dead. He lay so still that it was hard to see him breathing. It was downright unnatural to see Naruto be so still. But by some miracle, he was still alive. With a lot of awkward wrestling, Kakashi hefted his orange-clad student over his other shoulder.

Wayward students both in hand, Kakashi turned to dismiss his canine helper. "Thanks Pakkun."

"No problem." Pakkun waved a paw. "See ya!" Then he vanished in a puff of smoke.

Sighing, Kakashi left the ruined waterfall and the smashed statues of the Valley of the End behind as he started the long run home.


	2. Regrets

**Chapter 1**_  
Regrets_

Namikaze Minato, Yondaime Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato, sat on top of the ruined water tower on the roof of Konoha's hospital. Below him on the fenced-in roof, lines of white bed sheets fluttered in the warm breezes as they dried. Above him, the sky was nearly cloudless and the sun was shining brightly. And on this wonderful, peaceful day he, Konoha's most powerful ninja, felt absolutely sick.

The day before he'd dispatched his newest chuunin, along with a team of talented genin, to retrieve another genin (the fabled "last Uchiha") from defecting to Oto and Orochimaru. He knew that it would be a difficult and dangerous mission for them as they were young and inexperienced, and the Uchiha boy was likely to have escorts. But with all the jounin and experienced chuunin out on missions, the team he'd sent out would have to do. So he sent them off and sent a message to Suna and put the matter off to the side.

Then Shizune's team returned from their mission with Genma and Raidou beaten within a few inches of their lives. The two jounin had encountered four Oto-nin bearing a sealed coffin-barrel and had been defeated spectacularly. Speaking with the two of them after Tsunade had treated them, Minato had been chilled. Had he but one jounin available to send out, he would've. But he could spare no one, and could only sit back and wait for the young ninja to return.

And then they'd been brought back, one by one. Akimichi Chouji was first, carried in by one of the medic teams organized and dispatched by Tsunade. The chubby young genin was a bruised, emaciated shadow of his usual self as his body continued to slowly devour itself. The boy had taken all three of his clan's secret pills. Tsunade herself was working on him.

Hyuuga Neji arrived next. The prodigy of the noble clan was also in terrible shape. His back was riddled with puncture wounds and there was a gaping hole in his side. It seemed that Neji's opponent had discovered the Byakugan's tiny blind spot. Shizune, Tsunade's apprentice, was leading his surgery.

Subaku no Kankurou dragged Inuzuka Kiba and his ninken partner, Akamaru, in next. Since he'd gotten an assist from the Suna puppeteer his injuries were not as severe as the first two. But he'd still suffered a deep stomach wound, lost a lot of blood, and his puppy was badly beaten. The last he'd heard, Kiba's sister, Hana, was still treating Akamaru.

Nara Shikamaru had returned with Subaku no Temari shortly after Kiba. Aside from a broken finger and a burned forearm he was fine. That one good piece of news at least reassured Minato that he'd made a good choice in promoting the boy to chuunin. However, seeing the state of his team, his friends, Chouji especially, was hitting the shadow-manipulator hard.

Barely a half hour ago, he'd been informed that the runaway Rock Lee had been returned to the hospital by Subaku no Gaara. Minato was a little unnerved by this news as Gaara had been the one who sent the energetic Lee to the hospital during the Chuunin Exams. Thankfully, though, the two boys seemed to get along now and Lee, a few cuts and bruises aside, was no worse for wear. Tsunade would probably keep him in the hospital a while longer than planned as punishment for sneaking off to join the mission without clearance.

Now he was left waiting on Kakashi, Sasuke, and Naruto.

_Damn it Tsunade-sama!_ Minato swore, clenching his hands into fists until they hurt. _What possessed you to suggest Naruto to the Nara boy?_

The medical Sannin had been visiting his office when the news of the Uchiha boy's attempt to defect to Orochimaru had come in. She'd lingered near the door when Shikamaru had been assigned the mission and followed him out when he left. And she'd gone and recommended Naruto for the retrieval team.

When Minato had fist learned of Naruto's inclusion on the team from the gate guards' records, he'd been more surprised than anything else. When Tsunade admitted promoting the boy to the chuunin, he'd been irritated. And as the team filtered back to Konoha, broken and bleeding, he'd grown more and more afraid.

_What shape will Naruto be in when he comes back? Will he be mostly unhurt like Lee and Shikamaru? Will he be hurt like Kiba and Akamaru? Or will he be on death's doorstep like Chouji and Neji?_

He slumped forward in his perch on the water tower and buried his face in his hands. He really should be in his office wrangling with paperwork. He should be handing out missions to his strained and diminished ninja force to keep the village looking strong and barely effected by the recent Sand-Sound strike. But after Kakashi had turned down an S-ranked mission (which he shouldn't have done as those missions weren't really optional) to retrieve his students, and after Tsunade had deployed her medics, Minato found that he could do nothing but drift around the hospital as he waited.

_I'm a terrible father,_ he thought glumly. _I've pushed him away, pushed him on others, ignored him in favor of my work…and only now that he might die do I really care. I'm pathetic._

In the beginning, his grief over Kushina's death and the monumental amount of work in rebuilding the village (and his ninja force) after the Kyuubi had kept him away from Naruto. When the boy had been small he'd managed some connection with his son. But as Naruto grew, and more and more of Kushina manifested in him, Minato found it harder and harder to be around him. The loss of his almost-wife was a wound that just refused to heal and Naruto, who was so much like his mother, was salt to that wound.

In response to his absence, Naruto acted up and acted out. He purposely took his love of the color orange too far and wore bright orange pants and a blue and orange jacket—a suicidal outfit for a ninja. He was loud, he was rude, he referred to his father as "Hokage-jiji" even though he wasn't that old, and he invented a style of henge that generated a naked girl covered only by smoke. He played pranks and was a terrible student in the Academy. He did anything for attention from anyone regardless if it was good or bad.

_Kushina…if you were still here…you'd knock my teeth out for how I've been neglecting Naruto._ Minato chuckled bitterly and dropped down from the water tower to stand among the fluttering lines of bed sheets. _And I would deserve it._

Glancing over his shoulder he eyed the damage to the small water tower. The metal walls of the cylinder were punched in on one side, and bloomed outward in a ragged flower on the other. Even though it would be a real pain to replace he couldn't help but smile a little at the sight of it.

_Naruto did that…with my jutsu._

Intellectually, he'd known that Naruto was capable of performing the Rasengan, but to see physical proof of it gave him a bittersweet feeling of pride. It had taken him three years to develop the jutsu, and Naruto, not yet thirteen, had found a way to perform it in only a few months. It was an incredible feat for someone so young to master a jutsu so powerful, but for Naruto, a boy who'd flunked the Genin Exam three times, it was absolutely astonishing. But…

_It should've been __**me**__ to teach him the Rasengan,_ he sighed, _not Jiraiya-sensei. The Rasengan is my invention; I know it best._ Looking away from the damaged water tower, Minato looked up at a wispy cloud that was casting a shadow over the hospital roof and grinned faintly. _At least he can't teach Naruto my Hiraishin no Jutsu behind my back…_

"Hokage-sama!"

Minato spun around to find a young medical ninja trainee standing breathlessly at the door to the roof.

"Hokage-sama!" the young girl repeated. "Hatake Kakashi has arrived! And he's brought both Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto with him!"

That was all that Minato needed to hear. With a curt, distracted nod, he brushed past her and strode back into the hospital in search of his former student. He needed to see his son. And he needed to knock the Uchiha boy upside the head.

As he strode through the sterile hallways of the hospital, scattering medical staff as he went, he felt himself tensing up. It was hard not to run, hard to keep breathing calmly and evenly. He couldn't remember feeling so tense since the war years.

He slowed his pace when he came to one of the operating rooms where Shikamaru, Shikamaru's father Shikaku, and Subaku no Temari sat waiting for news of Chouji's condition. Tsunade was now present and the light over the operating room dark, signaling that treatment of the patient was complete, one way or the other. At first Minato thought it was bad news, as Shikamaru was crying, but Tsunade's kind, calm smile, free of pity, let him know that the young chuunin's tears were of relief, not of grief.

Shizune had also recently arrived on the scene. Breathless and sweaty, her triumphant smile was all Minato needed to see. Hyuuga Neji would make it too.

And then Kakashi intruded on the gathering. His former student had the Uchiha slung over one shoulder, and Naruto over the other. The jounin looked grim and weary, a look Minato hadn't seen since the darker days of the war. Seeing that look on Kakashi's face made Minato's blood freeze in his veins.

"Tsunade-sama," Kakashi sighed. "Sasuke needs a secure room and as many chakra suppression seals as is safe."

"Chakra suppression seals?" Tsunade repeated with a frown as she waved in a pair of medics to retrieve the Uchiha boy from Kakashi's shoulder.

"Yes," Kakashi nodded grimly. "From what I saw when I caught up with these two, I don't trust him anymore. He also needs the curse seal re-sealed." He turned his one visible eye towards Minato. "You should do the sealing, sensei. My own attempt at sealing doesn't seem to have lasted very long."

Minato nodded, barely aware of the handful of shocked glances that he was getting from those who hadn't noticed his arrival. "What about Naruto?" he asked, amazing himself at how calm and in control he sounded.

"Physically he should be fine," Kakashi replied, gently shifting the orange-clad boy from his shoulder to his arms. "But from how they were fighting…"

"They were fighting?" Temari frowned. "But…I thought they were friends."

"I thought they were friends too," Kakashi muttered.

Peering over Kakashi's shoulder, Minato couldn't help but shiver at the sight of Naruto. The boy was far too still and limp in Kakashi's arms. He was pale and dotted with faint bruises, smudged in dirt and dried blood, and his vibrant orange outfit was torn up. Naruto had never looked smaller and frailer. The sick feelings that had plagued Minato earlier returned full force.

"Is there something wrong with his eyes, Kakashi?"

With effort, Minato tore his eyes away from Naruto to watch as Tsunade performed a quick once-over on the Uchiha boy. The dark-haired boy's ankles and wrists were bound tightly with wire, preventing any movement from the unconscious child, especially hand seals. His eyes were bound in bandages, essentially blindfolding him.

"His Sharingan has reached the third level," Kakashi reported. "I don't think he knows how to hypnotize people with them yet, but I'm not about to take that chance."

"I see," Tsunade nodded gravely. "Shizune, send word to ANBU headquarters and request a squad to guard his room."

"_Hai_," Shizune bowed and hurried off to fulfill her task.

"Follow me," Tsunade ordered the pair of medics who supported the Uchiha's unconscious form. "I'll be back for Naruto," she added before vanishing down a hall.

Kakashi trudged over to a row of chairs propped against the wall and sank into one, carefully arranging Naruto in his lap. Minato was about to join him when Haruno Sakura, the final member of the current Team Seven, skidded onto the scene. Wherever she'd been in the village, she'd run all the way to the hospital. Panting for breath, she hurried right up to Kakashi, oblivious to anyone else in the hall.

"Kakashi-sensei?"

"I brought them both back," he answered. "Tsunade-sama is seeing to Sasuke right now."

"Thank goodness," she sighed in relief and started to leave in search of the Uchiha.

Kakashi caught her by the wrist. "He's not to have any visitors until further notice."

Sakura frowned. "But—"

"If I were you," Kakashi interrupted, "I'd be more worried about the teammate that didn't knock me out and leave me to spend the night on a bench."

Her face fell. She looked guiltily at Naruto sprawled on their teacher's lap. "How is he?"

"Beat up and exhausted, but I think he'll live," Kakashi replied.

Apparently satisfied with this answer, she shifted the topic back to what really seemed to concern her. "And what about Sasuke-kun?"

"No major injuries," Kakashi answered shortly.

Minato fought down his irritation with the young girl and her blinding infatuation with the renegade Uchiha. She would never be a real kunoichi if she didn't let go of her unhealthy attachment to her dark-haired teammate and focus more on her training. For her sake, he hoped that the girl would open her eyes and see the world beyond Uchiha Sasuke before she got stuck in a rut and stayed a simple genin forever.

Ignoring the pink-haired girl's presence, Minato settled himself in the chair next to Kakashi. He wanted to ask Kakashi to hand Naruto over, but worried at hurting the unconscious boy. So he simply sat there, uncharacteristically indecisive, and switched between watching Naruto breathe and observing the others clumped around the recently out-of-use operating room.

"What do you think will happen to Sasuke-kun, Kakashi-sensei?" the girl asked timidly.

"It's hard to say for sure," Kakashi shrugged. "But he will be punished."

"Whatever he gets, he deserves it," Shikamaru remarked. He'd calmed down and the only evidence that he'd been crying a few minutes earlier was that his eyes were a bit red and puffy. "His actions hurt a lot of our comrades—some almost died. And for what? So he could join up with Orochimaru, a traitor and enemy of Konoha?"

"He thought he had to leave," Sakura protested softly. "He needed to get stronger to kill his brother and avenge his clan."

"That's no excuse," Minato frowned, barely keeping his growing anger out of his voice.

"Hokage-sama!" the pink-haired girl squeaked. "I…I didn't see you there…"

"If he wished to grow stronger, all he had to do was train harder," he continued. "If he wanted help, all he had to do was ask for it."

Sakura bowed her head and seemed to wilt in on herself. "I tried to convince him to say. I begged and pleaded with him. I even threatened to scream so that others would come and stop him. But I couldn't change his mind; I couldn't stop him." She bowed to him. "I am sorry for my failure, Hokage-sama."

"Don't blame yourself, you did what you could. It was Sasuke's choice to do what he did. The blame for this mess rests entirely on his shoulders." Minato settled back in his seat, suddenly feeling very tired. _What a mess this is…_ "Why don't you go home? Kakashi will inform you if anything significant changes."

The girl straightened up a bit. "Actually, I was hoping to speak with Tsunade-sama about something."

"She's rather busy at the moment, why don't you come back in a few hours?" Minato suggested.

She gnawed at her lip thoughtfully for a moment before shaking her head. "I think I'll wait here." Mind made up, she took a seat a few chairs down from him and settled in to wait for her turn.

"Troublesome," Shikamaru muttered. "Hey dad, do you need my help getting the book back home?"

"Nah, I've got it," Shikaku answered lazily and pushed off the wall he'd been leaning against to retrieve the ancient Nara clan book of medicine he'd leant to Tsunade to help treat Chouji. "I'll tell your mother that you made it home."

"Great," Shikamaru groaned and slumped down into the open chair next to Kakashi.

Subaku no Temari took this opportunity to abandon her seat a few chairs down from Shikamaru and approach Minato. "Yondaime Hokage-sama," she began formally with a respectful bow. "The mission is complete and Suna has fulfilled its obligations. When are we free to depart home?"

"You may leave anytime you wish," Minato replied, "though you are welcome to rest here for a few days. Suna's assistance in this matter is greatly appreciated. Please convey Konoha's thanks to your elders."

"Thank you, Yondaime Hokage-sama." The Suna kunoichi bowed and started to leave, but hesitated and eyed the limp Naruto balanced on Kakashi's knees. "Would…would it be alright if my younger brother Gaara visited Naruto before we left?"

Minato's first impulse was to tell her "no, absolutely not," but he held his tongue and forced himself to consider the request.

From what he'd seen of Subaku no Gaara, the red-haired boy was a ruthless killer. He showed his opponents no mercy; if he fought them, they would die. In his opinion, Gai had been lucky to dissuade the young Suna-nin from slaughtering Rock Lee in the preliminaries of the Chuunin Exam.

However, the murderous boy seemed to have developed some sort of self control since then. He'd defended Rock Lee, the boy he'd once tried to kill, and brought him safely back to Konoha unharmed. The fact that Gaara had accepted the mission at all seemed to indicate that he wasn't the same as he'd been before.

So maybe…

"If Naruto is up for the visit, then yes, Gaara may see him," Minato answered finally.

"Thank you, Hokage-sama," she bowed again, more deeply this time. "I will let him know." And with that, she departed to locate her brothers.

When she was out of sight, he sighed deeply and slumped down in his chair and closed his eyes. It was barely noon and all he wanted to do was go home, curl up in bed, and not get up until the next morning. But he was the Hokage; he wasn't allowed to abandon his responsibilities and sulk like he wanted to.

A whimper to his right brought him back to the immediate present and he glanced over at his son. Naruto wasn't quite limp and still anymore; he sat up a bit straighter in Kakashi's supporting arm, weakly lifted his head off the Copy-nin's shoulder, and cracked open his eyes to peer blearily around. Minato frowned uneasily at the dull look in the boy's normally vibrant blue eyes.

"Kakashi-sensei…" Naruto mumbled faintly. "Where…?"

"We're back in Konoha, in the hospital," Kakashi replied quietly.

"Sasuke?" he croaked weakly.

"He's being taken care of right now," Kakashi answered. "Don't worry about a thing; it's all over now."

"Oh." Naruto started to drift off, but picked up his drooping head and squinted over at his father. "Hokage-jiji? Wha…what're you…?"

"What am I doing here?" Minato finished the faint question. "I'm hiding from the mountains of paper on my desk," he answered quite seriously.

Naruto's blank expression melted into childish befuddlement. "Huh?"

"I think he's joking, Naruto," Kakashi remarked, clearly smirking behind his mask.

The boy blinked. "Oh."

"So, how are you feeling?" Minato asked.

"Tired," Naruto muttered, "an' sore…"

"Tsunade-sama should be back soon to look you over," Minato smiled faintly. _It sounds like Sasuke didn't hurt him too badly. He probably just exhausted his chakra reserves again. Thank goodness._

Naruto blinked sluggishly before sighing deeply. "Can't I jus' go home?"

Minato shook his head. "Nope."

"Ugh," Naruto groaned and leaned back into Kakashi's arm.

"Subaku no Gaara might stop by to visit you later," Minato warned.

"Gaara?" Naruto scratched at his spiky blonde hair, confused. "Gaara's…here?"

"Yes, I sent a request to Suna for some back-up on your mission and they sent Gaara and his siblings to help," Minato explained.

"Oh…okay." Naruto stared down at his dirty, bruised hands for a few minutes before looking up again. "Are you sure I can't just go home? I'll stay in bed and be good, I promise."

"Naruto, you can barely sit up on your own," Sakura snapped before Minato could more gently refuse the request. She folded her arms over her chest and took the tone of a mother scolding her whining young child. "You may not be hurt as badly as the others, but you still need medical attention, so just stop complaining and wait your turn."

"The others?" Naruto repeated and turned pale. "Chouji, Neji, Kiba…they never caught up, did they?"

"No, they didn't," Shikamaru answered from a few seats away. He'd looked asleep with his eyes closed and his head leaned back against the wall. Minato had almost forgotten that he was there. "They got too hurt to join back up, but they won their fights and they didn't die."

Naruto remained very pale, but he visibly relaxed at hearing that none of his teammates had died. He sighed and slumped sideways into Kakashi's chest. The silver-haired jounin gently tightened his arm around his battered student and glanced around, as if willing Tsunade to reappear.

The pink-haired kunoichi – perhaps bored from sitting and waiting and seeking some distraction – abandoned her seat to examine her worn-out teammate who she had practically ignored earlier. Minato watched as her pale green eyes swept over Naruto's hunched, battered form. Her gaze stopped at an impressive fist-sized hole in the shoulder of his orange and blue jacket (and in the black T-shirt he wore underneath) that revealed Naruto's slightly raw-looking skin.

"What did you do to your coat, Naruto?" she asked curiously.

What little color had returned to Naruto's face since hearing about his friends' poor state of health abruptly fled, leaving him a sickly ashen gray. "I don't want to talk about it," he whispered almost inaudibly and turned his face into Kakashi's dull green flak jacket.

Minato went rigid. That was not Naruto. When Naruto didn't want to talk about something, he'd change the subject, or fidget nervously and then change the subject. He only refused to talk about something if he was being badgered about a subject he didn't want to discuss. Naruto never refused to talk and curled up into a meek little ball like this.

_Uchiha Sasuke…_ Minato clenched his teeth until they ached. _…What have you done to my son?_


	3. Family

**Chapter 2  
**_Family_

It was all some terrible, horrible nightmare. It couldn't be real. It was just some sick, twisted dream. It wasn't real. Just a dream, just a dream, just a dream…

His shoulder bumped against the bed rail and he felt a short burst of fiery agony in response.

_No._

It hadn't been a dream. Sasuke-teme had really run off with those Oto-nin to seek Orochimaru for power. He'd really gone off with his friends to get him back. His friends had really gotten hurt…bad. He and Sasuke had really fought like that, in the Valley of the End. Sasuke had really run a Chidori through his shoulder. Sasuke had really broken his neck.

His best friend had really tried to kill him.

He took a deep, shaky breath and choked a little at the strong antiseptic hospital smell that invaded his nose. For some reason his senses, especially his sense of smell, were still a little heightened. Normally they were only that way when he was channeling the fox's chakra, and he wasn't right now. He was just lying on a hospital bed, being miserable.

Shifting stiffly onto his good side – the one with his uninjured shoulder – he closed his blue eyes and tried vainly to go back to sleep and forget that the last few days had ever happened. But he'd already slept a lot, nearly a full day straight by his guess. He simply wasn't sleepy anymore. However, his body still felt weak and achy, a sensation he was not at all accustomed to.

_Stupid fox-teme, _he thought darkly. _Aren't you supposed to fix me up? Why am I not better yet?_

There was no answer. He hadn't expected any. If he had gotten a reply, he would've been freaked out. But…an answer would've been nice.

The door to his room slowly scraped open and Naruto cracked open one eye to see who had come to visit him. The person on the other side of the door seemed to hesitate before stepping into his line of vision. It was the only person that he expected to come see him: Gaara.

The red-haired Suna Jinchuuriki slowly crept up to his bedside and stopped about a foot away. The creepy, stoic boy looked uncharacteristically anxious and timid. And Naruto noticed that Gaara's sandstone gourd, which contained his sand and was always strapped to his back, was missing.

"Hey Gaara, where's your sand?" Naruto asked curiously, slightly annoyed at how weak and crackly his voice sounded.

"The Hokage would not let me visit you if I didn't leave my sand outside the hospital," Gaara replied in his usual monotone voice.

Naruto frowned slightly and itched at some of the bandages wrapped around his neck. He really didn't need any bandages; he hadn't been bleeding from anywhere when Kakashi-sensei had brought him in. The only reason he could see for the bandages was that the medics had decided to wrap him up like a mummy for the heck of it.

"That's weird," he muttered and slowly, stiffly wriggled into a sitting position on his bed. "So, how are you?"

"I'm alright." Gaara shifted uncomfortably. "How are you?"

"Just a little sore," Naruto answered with a big grin. "I'll be fine in no time!"

"That's…good," Gaara nodded awkwardly.

Naruto tilted his head curiously at the other boy. "Did you want to ask me something, Gaara?"

Gaara folded his arms tighter over his chest and stared uncomfortably at the tile floor. Naruto simply sat and waited for the other boy to gather his thoughts. The other boy, his sort-of friend, needed his help and he would give it.

"I wonder…" Gaara's dull blue-green eyes slowly traced the lines of the tile floor underneath his open-toed zori sandals. "I wonder if I should…feel sad that the Yondaime Kazekage is dead. He was my father and…shouldn't children be sad when a parent dies?"

"Hmm…" Naruto itched at his bandages again and feverishly considered this problem. _What a…sticky question…_ "Well…are your brother and sister sad that he's dead?"

"No."

"And…" Naruto frowned in deep concentration. "You told me and Shikamaru that he tried to assassinate you when you didn't turn out the way that he wanted, right?"

"Yes."

"Is anyone sad that Orochimaru killed him?" Naruto wondered.

"Not that I know of."

"Erm…" Naruto scratched at his spiky blonde hair as he considered how to answer. Normally he'd just go with the first thing that came to mind, but this was too important to just wing it. Gaara was what he could've been had his father tried to forge him into a living weapon; what he could've been had he never made any friends.

"It's kinda hard for me to say since I didn't know the guy personally, but… Since nobody seems to miss him, not even your brother and sister, and since he's sent assassins after you a bunch of times, you shouldn't worry about being sad about him being dead. He may've been a great ninja – he _was_ the Kazekage after all – but he sounds like a really lousy human being. So what if he was your dad by blood? He didn't treat you like his son and it doesn't sound like he acted like much of a dad, so it's more like you were strangers to each other—not family…"

Naruto trailed off and anxiously scratched at the back of his neck. "Am I making any sense to you?"

The Suna-nin stared at the floor for a long time before finally raising his dark-ringed eyes up to Naruto's blue ones. "I think so."

"Well, if you need anymore help with this, I'm sure that your brother and sister would be a lot more help than me," Naruto laughed sheepishly. "They'd know more about how things were in your family than I would."

Gaara nodded sharply. "Thank you for your help, Uzumaki Naruto."

"You're welcome!" Naruto grinned widely. _Not sure if I was helpful at all…but okay!_

"My siblings and I must return to Suna." Gaara bowed to him and slowly exited the room. "Farewell, Naruto."

"Bye, Gaara!" Naruto waved cheerfully. "Have a save trip home!"

As soon as the door slid shut, Naruto allowed the cheery façade to fall away. He rubbed at his sore shoulder and laid back down on his bed to stare at the ceiling tiles. Really, he was glad to have helped Gaara with his problem. But…

…_But I couldn't reach Sasuke._

* * *

Minato slumped forward with a sigh and rested his forehead against the cool wood of his desk. It was around dinnertime and he was still trapped in his office. Well, he wasn't actually trapped. He could leave anytime. But the thought of returning to an empty, Naruto-less house was very unappealing.

Stacks of papers and scrolls covered the rest of his desk and formed some rather impressive piles. Thankfully only about a quarter of it was real; the rest was just a genjutsu. It was a little trick he'd picked up from the Sandaime that made him look ridiculously busy so that whiny little genin didn't whine quite so much when they drew their D-rank missions. However, the part that was real occupied most of his day.

_Why did I want this job again?_ he groaned wearily. _It certainly wasn't to swim through paperwork all day and deal with fresh genin complaining about being stuck weeding, babysitting, or catching that damn cat for the nth time._ He lifted his head off his desk and flopped back limply in his chair. _What I wouldn't give for a vacation…_

"It's getting late. Why don't you go home?"

Minato sat up straighter to see over the piles of paper and found his old teacher, Jiraiya, leaning on the doorframe. His towering mentor raised a white eyebrow at him, questioning. For the briefest moment, it was like they'd gone back in time and Jiraiya was his jounin-sensei and he was the green rookie genin tied to the post at the end of the bell test.

"I don't want to," Minato sighed. "It's too quiet at home."

"Then go to the hospital," Jiraiya snorted.

"But…it's late—"

"You're the Hokage!" Jiraiya interrupted. "Only Tsunade-hime has the guts to kick you out, and I doubt that she will."

Unable to formulate any other excuse that didn't sound completely pathetic, Minato abandoned his desk and leapt out one of his office windows in the direction of the hospital. He hopped from roof to roof, his long, flame-trimmed jacket flapping behind him like a cape. Following a few roofs behind was Jiraiya. Minato stubbornly ignored his mentor's presence.

It wasn't that he didn't want to see Naruto. He ached to see his son. What he didn't want was to hear Naruto's report of what happened on the retrieval mission.

So far he'd only read Nara Shikamaru's report, as he'd been the team leader, and Rock Lee's account, as he'd been healthy enough to give it. He'd been chilled as he read how Shikamaru had been forced to sacrifice his friends, one by one, to neutralize the party of higher-level Oto-nin who had been spiriting Sasuke away. And the strength, skill, and dedication to Orochimaru's cause – as described by Shikamaru and Lee – made him dread getting the rest of the reports from Chouji, Neji, and Kiba.

But Naruto's report would be the worst, he sensed. He'd tangled with all the Oto-nin briefly, and even held off that Kimimaro character solo for a while until Rock Lee intervened, but his primary solo fight had been with a Konoha-nin: Uchiha Sasuke. Naruto had fought his own teammate and friend and he dreaded finding out just how ugly it had gotten. Minato worried that when he knew exactly what the Uchiha had done to his boy that he would be unable to show Sasuke any mercy when his punishment was to be decided.

Squeezing his eyes shut for a moment, he willed the dark thoughts back and picked up the pace slightly as the large hospital building came into view. When he ran out of roofs to jump along, he dropped down to the street and strode right through the front doors. Glancing at the registry, he checked to see what room Naruto had been stashed in, and started to make his way there.

"H-Hokage-sama!" the receptionist squeaked in surprise. "Have you come to see Uchiha Sasuke?"

He paused briefly and answered a quiet "no" before continuing down the hall and up the stairs to Naruto's room before the flustered woman could try to talk to him any more.

The halls of the hospital were fairly deserted, as most people that could be home eating dinner with their families were doing that. It was nice to avoid all the people that would feel compelled to stop and greet him simply because he was the Hokage and important. But the echoing halls tainted with the faint beeps and whirs of medical equipment were undeniably eerie.

When he came to Naruto's door, he hesitated. If Naruto was asleep, he didn't want to disturb him. And—

_This is ridiculous!_ Minato snorted at himself. _I'm being pathetic and silly..._

Shaking his head, he grasped the door handle, slid it open, and stepped inside.

The lights were dimmed, but not off. There were no beeps or whirs; Naruto didn't need any fancy medical equipment like that. Glancing around, Minato didn't even see an IV stand set up. There was a mostly untouched meal tray on the bedside table. And Naruto lay awake, staring at the ceiling.

Minato slowly turned up the lights and shut the door behind him. A quick look at the hospital-provided dinner showed him that there was nothing there that Naruto wouldn't want to eat. So seeing all the food there, uneaten, was very worrisome.

"I thought onigiri was your favorite food after ramen," he remarked quietly.

Naruto flinched and tore his eyes away from the ceiling to gape at him. "Huh?"

"Your dinner," Minato nodded towards the tray. "You didn't eat any of it."

"I…I'm not really hungry," Naruto muttered. He chewed nervously at his lip. "You want me to report now?"

"You don't have to talk about it yet if you don't want to." Minato picked up one of the chairs along the wall and set it next to Naruto's bed so he could sit down. "It can wait a few more days before I need it."

"Oh," the boy sighed and closed his eyes in relief, which only made Minato dread what he would eventually find out even more.

Pushing back his worry, he picked up the dinner tray, picked up the chopsticks, and picked up a piece of chicken. "Hey, Naruto."

"Hm?" Naruto grunted and opened one eye.

"Do you want to get out of the hospital faster?"

Naruto immediately shot upright. "Yeah!"

"Then" – Minato smirked and held out the chicken with the chopsticks – "eat your dinner."

His son eyed the bit of chicken warily for a moment before leaning in and biting it off the chopsticks. Minato grinned and held out another bit of chicken with the chopsticks. By the third bite, Naruto had had enough.

"I can feed myself, Old Man!" the boy sputtered, his cheeks flushed a little in embarrassment.

"Alright," Minato chuckled and handed over the meal tray and chopsticks. "Enjoy."

Naruto scowled over at him before practically inhaling his food. In the blink of an eye, the chicken was gone and he'd moved on to the small onigiri. But halfway through the second rice ball, he paused and looked up from the tray with confusion flickering in his wide eyes.

"If you're not here to get my report…and you're definitely not here to watch me eat…why are you here?"

"What?" Minato frowned slightly. "I need some official reason to come visit you?"

His son shrugged awkwardly and dropped his eyes back down to his now mostly-cleared dinner tray. "I was just wondering if there was a reason," he muttered and stuffed the rest of the onigiri in his mouth.

Minato slowed a sigh and waited until Naruto had devoured the rest of his dinner before speaking again. "Are you feeling better today?"

"I guess," Naruto mumbled. "It's like…I'm tired, but I'm not sleepy. I can sit up, but I can't get out of bed. I tried, but my legs wouldn't work so I just sat on the floor until one of the nurses found me and stuck me back in bed." He fisted his hands in the bed sheets. "I wanna go home. I don't like it here."

"Don't worry, I'm sure you'll be out of here soon," Minato smiled and gently laid one hand over both of Naruto's small fists. "If they keep you more than a week I'll be shocked."

Naruto sighed and sunk back on the bed. "Do I really need all these bandages?" he complained, itching at the offending material on his right wrist. "I wasn't even bleeding when I got here."

"They're probably just a precaution," Minato shrugged. "You won't have to wear them for very long."

The boy pouted. "They're itchy!"

"Try not to think about them," Minato advised.

"Gah!" Naruto groaned. "I'm bored, dattebayo!"

"Now that would be a problem," Minato chuckled softly and folded his arms over his chest as he considered the issue. _How to distract him while keeping him in bed… Shogi won't work; I don't think he even knows how to play… He's not in the Academy anymore so he doesn't have any homework to do… I don't think he'd been interested in just studying scrolls… Maybe I could…yeah, that might work!_

"I think I've got it," Minato grinned and fished around in his pocket for a particular scrap of paper.

"Got what?" Naruto frowned.

"You'll find out in a minute," Minato replied and pulled a seal paper out of his pocket and stuck it on the wall next to the door.

"What are you putting up a _Hiraishin_ seal for, Old Man?" the boy asked suspiciously.

"I need to go get something," Minato answered and winked. "I'll be back in a flash!"

Silently laughing at his own joke, he gathered his chakra, focused on the seal marker set in the library of his house, and warped there with a flash of yellow light. Easily brushed aside the slight dizziness brought on by the technique from long experience, he scanned the shelves packed with books and scrolls for what he had come for. About three minutes later, he located the book he wanted, removed the yellow novel from its shelf, and flashed back to the seal he'd just placed in Naruto's hospital room.

"What did you get?" Naruto asked warily.

"This!" Minato smiled and handed over the yellow book for Naruto to examine.

"'The Legend of the Gutsy Ninja'?" Naruto muttered as he read the title. He narrowed his eyes at the author's name. "'Gamakage'? Hey that's Ero-Sennin's stupid pen name!" His son stared up at him, incredulous and a little disgusted. "You brought me _porn_?!"

"No, I didn't bring you porn," Minato corrected as he sat back down in the chair by Naruto's bed. "Do you see any label on it that restricts it to readers eighteen and up?"

"No," Naruto muttered after examining every inch of the book cover. "Did Ero-Sennin really write this?"

"Yes, Jiraiya really did write it. In fact, it's the very first book he wrote," Minato informed the skeptical boy.

His son glared dubiously at the yellow book in his hands. "Are you _sure_ this isn't porn?"

"This book is nothing like Jiraiya-sensei's _Come, Come Paradise_ series, I promise," Minato sighed and took the book from Naruto. "I used to read you chapters of this book as bedtime stories when you were little."

"Really?" Naruto scratched at the back of his head. "I think I remember that…kinda…sorta…"

"Well," Minato opened the book to the first chapter, "let's see just what you remember of this…"

* * *

"That was so cute," Jiraiya teased as he hunted through Minato's refrigerator for a snack. "Reading him my old book to him like that…" he let out a booming laugh "…so very sweet."

"You were sitting outside the window the entire time, weren't you?" Minato stated more than asked as he leaned against his kitchen counter and watched his old teacher examine a take-out crate he'd found. "Stop stealing my food, sensei."

"I'm not stealing your food," Jiraiya protested as he dug a pair of chopsticks out of a drawer and started to eat whatever he'd found inside the take-out box.

Minato sighed and rubbed his temples. "Why didn't you join us? I'm sure that Naruto would've liked a visit from you too."

"I wasn't about to intrude on such a wonderful father-son bonding moment," Jiraiya snorted. "Besides, I can always visit him later."

"I suppose." Minato undid the clasp of his jacket and shrugged it off. "Thanks."

"You're very welcome!" Jiraiya laughed. "Anything for my favorite student!"

Minato chuckled at that declaration and unzipped his flak jacket. "I'm still your favorite student, eh?"

"Of course!" Jiraiya declared. "You will always be my favorite student!"

"What about Naruto?" Minato asked as he untied his hitae-ate and traced his thumb over the swirling leaf symbol etched into the metal plate. "Where does he rank in your heart, sensei?"

"Why, he's my _second_ favorite student, _and_ my favorite godson," answered cheerfully.

"Ah, I see," Minato grinned and ran a hand through his shaggy blonde hair.

Jiraiya set aside the now empty take-out container and his cheery expression sobered into seriousness. "Minato, I've been meaning to ask you something."

"What is it?" Minato asked warily.

"I want to make Naruto my apprentice and I want to take him away from Konoha for a while."

Minato felt his blood turn to ice. "How long is 'a while'?"

"Two or three years at least," Jiraiya replied.

Minato clung to the edge of the counter until his knuckles turned white. "And why do you want to do this?"

"For a few reasons," Jiraiya replied and folded his arms over his chest, effortlessly sliding into lecture mode.

"The Akatsuki want him. Itachi proved that when he and his partner tried to kidnap him when I was taking him to track down Tsunade. They don't need him yet—they didn't put up much of a fight when I came on the scene and interrupted their efforts—but one day they _will _need him and they won't stop until they get him.

"By taking him out of Konoha as my apprentice, I can make him stronger and teach him how to protect himself against those that will hunt him. I can keep us off the Akatsuki's radar, teach him about my information network, and show him the world beyond the village. And away from the village there will be no distractions from his training—no chasing after that pink-haired girl he likes so much, no squabbling with other boys, no missions.

"Also, leaving the village will allow me to help him work with the fox's chakra without much worry of interference. You know that if I try to train him too much with it in the village that the council will throw up an awful stink with about it. Really, taking Naruto out of Konoha for a while is the most efficient way to get him ready."

It was a good argument. The reasons were perfectly sound. Minato could see no way around what Jiraiya was telling him. If the Akatsuki got their hands on Naruto, they would tear the Kyuubi out of him, use the demon for their own shadowy purposes, and leave his son dead. But the thought of sending Naruto off into the world with only Jiraiya for company for years without any contact with home made him feel cold inside.

"I'd like for Naruto to attempt the Chuunin Exams one more time before you run off with him," Minato said finally. "It would be ideal if he could make chuunin, but whether he earns his promotion or not you're free to take him then."

"It's a little risky," Jiraiya mused. "But I can work with that."

"If something comes up, you can take him sooner," Minato sighed, "but…"

"I understand." Jiraiya grabbed an apple and patted Minato on the shoulder as he headed for the front door. "Go get some sleep. I'm sure that the council will start leaning on you to deal with that troublesome Uchiha boy tomorrow."

"Thanks for reminding me of that, sensei," Minato muttered, but his old teacher was already gone.

Shaking his head, he left the kitchen for his bedroom with his Hokage coat and flak jacket tucked under one arm. Putting his things away and changing into a pair of sleep pants, he collapsed onto his bed and tried to get comfortable. He sighed wearily and glanced over at a picture frame on his bedside table that was illuminated by a stray moonbeam. A beautiful young woman smiled back at him with her long red hair spilling over her shoulders like a waterfall and her blue-green eyes sparkling with laughter.

_I wish you were here…_


	4. Shadow Scars

**Chapter 3**_  
Shadow-Scars_

Minato clenched his teeth as he skimmed Kakashi's brief report. His former student didn't have much to tell; he'd simply tracked Sasuke with his Summon dogs, observed the final move of Naruto and Sasuke's fight, captured Sasuke before the boy could flee, and brought both boys back to the hospital. However, for all its shortness, what information Kakashi's report did contain made Minato shudder with restrained fury.

_The Chidori versus the Rasengan,_ he mused grimly. _That's bad enough by itself. But what is this monstrous form that Kakashi describes Sasuke as having? Where did it come from? I can understand the fox-shaped cloak of chakra around Naruto; that would be the Kyuubi's doing. But Sasuke isn't a Jinchuuriki like Naruto, so how…?_

"Sensei?" Minato peered up from his reading to find Kakashi standing before him. "You wanted to see me?"

"Yes," Minato nodded and set the report aside. "I want you to come with me to interview Uchiha Sasuke."

"Ah," Kakashi sighed in understanding.

Without any further conversation, Minato abandoned his desk and headed towards the hospital at a fairly leisurely pace (for a shinobi) with Kakashi a step behind him. Words were not necessary between them. They'd been together long enough to not need to speak to understand what was going on.

Minato had first met Hatake Kakashi when he'd first made jounin and Kakashi had passed the Genin Exam. Kakashi was the genius of his generation; he'd skipped countless grades and passed the exam at the ridiculously young age of six. As he was so much younger than his classmates, he wasn't put on a three-man squad like the rest and Minato had been assigned as his private tutor.

Besides simply being a child prodigy, Kakashi had been incredibly driven as a child. His father, Hatake Sakumo, Konoha's White Fang, had been a great shinobi in his day, but after one disaster mission, the elder Hatake had brought such shame (completely undeserved in Minato's humble opinion) upon the family name that he ended up wandering out into the forest behind his home and committing suicide. Kakashi had barely been five at the time and had idolized his father. Sakumo's shame and shameful death hit him hard, and he redoubled his efforts in training. He strictly adhered to the rules and the codes of the shinobi, believing that his father's disgrace was brought about entirely by his father's choice to save his comrades instead of completing his mission.

By the time Minato took on two more students, evening out his squad which was then officially dubbed "Team 7," Kakashi was twelve and had been a chuunin for almost four years. Even though both new students were fairly talented for their age group—Rin was a promising young medic (mostly self-taught from books) and Obito was an Uchiha with a knack for ninjutsu—they didn't measure up to the standards of Kakashi the genius prodigy. So the silver-haired boy held himself aloof from them, ignoring Rin's timid affection and relentlessly baiting the hot-tempered and slightly clumsy Obito.

Although Minato was just supposed to be Kakashi's sensei, he tried to do more for his stoic first student. He tried to persuade Kakashi to move in with him, but the proud boy refused and stubbornly lived alone. He tried to encourage the boy to make friends (that was his secondary reason for taking on Rin and Obito), but Kakashi remained apart. It took another death close to him to get Kakashi to change.

The Third Great Shinobi War was intensifying to the point where squads containing young genin were being sent out on war-related missions. He and his students had pulled an assignment in Grass Country where they were to destroy a bridge. Partway there, they had run into some enemy Iwa-nin and learned of an impending attack miles away. As he was the fastest, Minato had left to spread the warning, and he'd left Kakashi (who'd recently made jounin at thirteen) in charge. In hindsight, that was a mistake.

Another small squad of Iwa-nin had been nearby and shortly after he'd left one had kidnapped Rin. Kakashi had wanted to continue on to the bridge, but Obito refused and went after Rin. Obito got himself in trouble with one of the Iwa-nin and Kakashi had to rescue him, but at the cost of his left eye. Upset at being useless and determined not to be anymore, Obito had managed to awaken his Sharingan and used it to win the fight. Together they'd advanced on the cave where Rin was tied up and attacked the enemy guarding her. They freed her, but at a cost.

The roof of the cave collapsed and Obito was mostly crushed. Dying, he gave up one of his Sharingan eyes to replace Kakashi's ruined one and made the young jounin promise to protect Rin. The surgery was a success, thanks to Rin's skill, and Kakashi gained the eye that would later make him famous (or infamous, depending on who was asked).

That death, like the death of his father years earlier, deeply affected Kakashi. While he still strived to complete his missions, he now strained to defend his teammates, determined not to loose anyone else. It made Minato proud, but he dearly wished that it hadn't come at such a high cost.

Then Rin had gone too. In one of the last engagements of the war with Iwa she'd been working as a field medic while Kakashi and Minato had been at separate battlefronts. When the smoke cleared in her fight, she'd vanished without a trace, and was presumed dead. No one had seen her since.

And it was back to just him and Kakashi. Kushina had drifted in and settled into their lives shortly after Rin's disappearance. With the war mostly over (there were only small skirmishes with Kumo still lingering on) they weren't so busy fighting that they were actually in Konoha at the same time for more than a day or two at a time. He'd started dating her (…well, sort of) and she sort of adopted Kakashi as her new little brother.

They formed a strange little family in a way. Kakashi looked up to him almost like a second father. Kushina was his older sister, almost a new mother. And Jiraiya, when he was around, was sort of like the cool, fun uncle.

_If only things could've stayed that way,_ Minato sighed as the hospital came into view.

But no, just as things were looking up and settling down—he'd made Hokage, he and Kushina were going to have a baby and then get married, and Kakashi had been made ANBU at fifteen—the Kyuubi had come. The village teetered on the edge of certain doom. He and the Sandaime had scrambled to find some way—_any way_—to defeat the monster. Many shinobi died trying to slow the beast as it made its relentless advance. Naruto was born, Kushina died, the Sandaime died performing the sealing, Naruto became the demon's jailor, and then came the aftermath.

_I buried myself in Hokage business. Kakashi buried himself in ANBU until all the killing nearly destroyed him and retired back to jounin._ Minato touched down at the hospital front doors and straightened out his Hokage jacket. Kakashi landed behind him a half a second later. _We drifted apart some, buried ourselves in work, and left Naruto to rot until he forced his way back into the forefront of our lives…_

Minato strode purposefully through the hospital halls up to Uchiha Sasuke's secure room, Kakashi hot on his heels. He nodded distractedly to the masked ANBU that guarded the Uchiha boy's door before stepping inside. Once Kakashi entered the room, he shut the door, giving them a measure of privacy.

The young Uchiha was strapped securely to his bed and covered in paper seals to interrupt his chakra flow to prevent escape. There were a few IVs in his arm, a scattering of bruises that stood out against his pale skin, and his eyes were still blindfolded by bandages, but otherwise he looked untouched. Seals and restraints aside, he looked healthier than Naruto.

With a nod to Kakashi, Minato averted his eyes from the young Uchiha's face as his former student unwound the bandages that formed the blindfold. Even though Sasuke's chakra network was interrupted and suppressed by the seals, there was some risk that the boy would be able to gather enough chakra to activate his eyes. It was a risky move to allow the Uchiha to see, but it was necessary to properly gauge the boy's reactions. Kakashi would be able to safely observe the black-haired boy through Obito's eye, which was a big part of the reason that Minato had brought him along.

The other main reason for bringing Kakashi was that he was the boy's teacher. He was the closest adult in Uchiha Sasuke's life after the massacre of his clan, and he was the best candidate to help pry information out of the boy. Kakashi was able to read between the lines with Sasuke, whereas Minato would only be able to guess at the hidden meanings in the boy's terse sentences.

"Uchiha Sasuke," Minato fixed his eyes on the boy's right hand, "what do you have to say for yourself?"

The boy remained stubbornly silent.

"I don't need to look at your eyes to know that you're awake," Minato frowned.

"I have nothing to say." The boy's voice was cold, flat, and utterly emotionless.

"You willfully deserted the village, knocked out one teammate, led to the grievous injury of several of your fellow classmates and comrades, and nearly killed your other teammate," Minato recited sharply. "Now, what do you have to say for yourself?"

"I have nothing to say," Sasuke repeated flatly.

"You may have nothing to say," Kakashi remarked after a moment, "but you have a great deal to answer for. So start answering."

"Outsiders have no right to know Uchiha clan business," Sasuke replied icily.

"It pains me to say it, Sasuke, but your clan is dead," Minato quietly reminded the boy. "A clan cannot be a single person. So the Uchiha clan's special privileges are suspended until the day you have a family of your own and reapply for clan status." His voice turned hard. "Your actions _cannot_ be protected by clan privilege. And if you were somehow still protected by those privileges, your actions would still not be excused. Because of you, several promising young Konoha-nin were injured and could have died. That level of betrayal demands punishment."

"It was clan business," the boy coldly insisted. "Konoha has no right to interfere."

"At this rate you'll end up with Ibiki and the torture squad," Kakashi warned. "It would be much better for you if started giving us real answers, Sasuke."

"It was clan business," Sasuke growled. "I promised my family vengeance, no matter what the cost. I need more power. Orochimaru promised it to me. So I was going to claim it. Had you not chosen to interfere, they wouldn't have gotten hurt."

The sheer arrogance and complete lack of empathy astounded Minato. It was an attitude he might've expected to find in a hardened adult ninja, but in a rookie genin like Sasuke…it was simply horrifying. Minato fought back the urge to pick the boy up by his shoulders, shake him, and scream: _"what the hell is wrong with you?!"_

_I shouldn't have let him live alone,_ Minato shuddered as his blue eyes continued to stare at Sasuke's hand. _I should've insisted that he find some guardian to live with. I should've taken him into my own house; Naruto would've loved that. Why did I even consider letting him live in the Uchiha clan compound where his entire clan was murdered?_

"Why did you attack Naruto?" Minato asked, shifting his approach.

"He was in my way," the Uchiha replied flatly. "And since our last fight was so rudely interrupted, I decided it was time to finish things once and for all."

"What did you hope that this fight would prove?" Kakashi inquired.

"That I always have been and always will be better than him," the boy answered matter-of-factly. "He's a pathetic wash-out that never should've made genin; he's an embarrassment. By getting rid of him I would've done everyone a favor."

"That's a cover if I ever heard one," Kakashi snorted before Minato could snap something that he might later regret.

"What's the truth then?" Sasuke sneered.

"I say that you are both jealous of Naruto and afraid of him," Kakashi replied after making a show of giving the matter very deep thought. "Naruto has made great strides, absolutely amazing progress. He's advanced so much, so quickly, that even though you have grown stronger and more skilled as well, it feels like you're standing still. And that leads to your fear. Fear that he might completely close the gap between you two, equal you, _surpass_ you, and prove you wrong about everything you've ever said or thought about him. You fear that someone you perceive as a failure, no-name ninja can outdo you: the last of your elite, noble clan."

"That's absurd!" Sasuke snarled, displaying the first real emotion of the interview. "My wasting my time to fight him was simply a means to an end. I'm not jealous of that _dobe_, nor am I afraid of him!"

"A means to an end, you say?" Minato repeated icily. "In what way?"

"By defeating him, the closest person left to me, I would gain the same power that my brother gained before he slaughtered the clan," the boy growled tensely, his limp hands clenching into fists. "And with that power in my possession, I would be able to meet Itachi on level ground and defeat him."

"What is this power?" Kakashi demanded sternly.

"The ultimate power." There was a smirk in his voice. "The Mangekyou Sharingan."

It took several minutes before either adult could speak.

"Why Naruto?" Minato asked finally, struggling to keep his voice calm. "Why did you have to beat Naruto? Why not someone else?"

"Naruto was ideal for what I needed to do," Sasuke explained calmly. "Of all those around me, I can say that I was closest to him and he to me. I could trust him to do just about anything for me and I respect his limited abilities. He's even more alone than I am. Sakura dislikes him; everyone else thinks he's just a class clown. He's an orphan; no one's ever heard if he has a guardian of any kind, let alone seen one. If I succeeded in obtaining the Mangekyou Sharingan—if I _killed _my_ best friend_—then no one would miss Naruto, and the village would be spared the embarrassment of his existence."

"I would miss Naruto," Kakashi replied coldly, "as would Iruka, and Sakura, and many others. You greatly misjudge him, Sasuke."

Minato barely heard Kakashi's defense of his son to the Uchiha. The fact that the boy would consider Naruto his _best friend_ and then so callously decide to kill him to gain some terrible power made him sick. He wanted nothing more than to put a stop to this insanity before it hurt his son any more than it already had. But the only solution that came to mind involved simply killing the Uchiha boy and ending everything there, and that just was not an option.

"Know this, Uchiha-san," Minato growled, barely able to contain his icy fury. "If you ever gain these eyes that you so desire at the cost of Uzumaki Naruto's life, then consider your days numbered very short, and your older brother will be the least of your problems."

"Issuing death threats over the life of one worthless genin, Hokage-sama?" Sasuke scoffed in disbelief.

"Every life has worth, no matter how great or small, even the life of an enemy," Minato retorted coldly. "It's really a pity that you don't understand that."

"I wonder if you ever really learned the lesson of my bell test," Kakashi remarked sadly. "Shinobi who disrespect the rules are trash, but those who do not care for their teammates are even worse trash. But you, Sasuke…you have willfully attacked both your teammates, and you have managed to lower yourself beneath even that. There is no word to describe how low you have sunk among those who call themselves shinobi of Konoha. If you were not worth more alive than dead, you would have been executed already."

Sasuke replied with nothing more than stony silence.

Unable to stomach standing near the boy any longer, Minato gestured to Kakashi to bind the Uchiha's eyes again and strode quickly from the room. He paused just long enough to pass instructions to the ANBU guards to prepare the boy to be moved to an operating room that he had set aside to perform the sealing on Sasuke's curse mark. With that chore done, he left the secure wing of the hospital behind for one of the recovery rooms.

"Hey, Hokage-jiji!" Naruto half-shouted in greeting as he swept in through the door. "I guess the paperwork must not be so bad this week, you've been coming to see me a lot!"

Minato simply couldn't bring himself to smile at the bad joke. He just parked himself on Naruto's bed and pulled the boy into his lap to better hug him. The youngest Uchiha's dark ambitions chilled him to the core and all he wished to do was protect his son from them.

…But he was already too late.

* * *

Sasuke lay compliant on his hospital cot and made no protest as Kakashi rebound his eyes with bandages. Even after several days' rest he was still exhausted from his latest escapade, and with his chakra blocked by seals, there was simply no way he could break free from his bonds. And even if he could've freed himself, there were countless Konoha shinobi that would stop any escape attempt that he made. So he simply lay still and let it happen.

He had waited four long years to become a shinobi so that he could start on his path of vengeance; he could wait a little longer. His capture by his former comrades was simply an inconvenient bump in the road. Sooner or later an opportunity would present itself to him and he could slip away and reach Orochimaru and all that the traitorous Sannin offered: power.

That power was the next step towards fulfilling his greatest ambition. Once he had it, he could slay Itachi and give the souls of his slaughtered family peace. Only then would he be free.

When he was younger, after the nightmare had happened, he had made a solemn vow to exact justice on his older brother. No matter what the cost was to himself, no matter what he had to do to kill his brother, he would do it. There was simply nothing else he could do. It was his destiny, his sole purpose in life. Even if he had to die to do it, as long as Itachi died, it would all be worth it.

He was well aware that Orochimaru had some ulterior motives in granting him the power that he'd offered. The curse seal he'd been given in the Forest of Death and the later enhancement passed along by the Sound Four after his interrupted duel on the hospital roof were only hints of what was to come. Acquiring more power from the Snake was dangerous, but well worth the risks.

_It's too bad that Naruto survived_, he mused. _If it wasn't for that strange chakra—that red chakra—he would be dead and I would have the Mangekyou Sharingan. I suppose that power was what Itachi was after when he and that other man showed up a few months ago and tried to abduct Naruto._

"I wish that you had listened to me about seeking revenge," Kakashi said sadly.

Sasuke didn't bother to reply to that. He just lay still, his eyes now sealed closed by bandages. And eventually he heard Kakashi walk away, leaving him alone.

The dark was a shinobi's best friend. It allowed one to move about without being seen; it was a friend, an ally. But Sasuke hated the dark, especially the dark he experienced when he closed his eyes.

Every time he closed his eyes, he saw it all over again. He saw the streets of the Uchiha District littered with the blood-spattered corpses of his entire clan. He saw his mother—his beautiful, kind, gentle, loving mother—limp in a pool of her own blood underneath the equally still body of his father in the family dojo. And he saw the slaughter play out over and over again through Itachi's Tsukyomi genjutsu attack.

That was his motivation, his driving force. So long as Itachi lived, the images of his proud clan being culled like defective livestock would never let him rest. The only way to end it would be to kill Itachi the way he'd killed his own clan.

_Soon, aniki,_ he thought bitterly. _Soon you will be as bloody and cold as otou-san and okaa-san. But you will never have the honor of a proper grave. Let the crows eat your rotten corpse!_

* * *

Even when his father had ignored him or was too busy for him, a part of him had always admired his father. He was just so cool, and the Hokage too! His dad always knew what to do, how to make things better, how to take out the bad guys. He couldn't be beat. There wasn't a shinobi alive that could touch his dad.

In one of his earliest memories, he could recall an incident were some shinobi—who he was or where he came from Naruto either never knew or simply couldn't remember—had snuck into his house and tried to hurt him. He'd been so scared and the bad shinobi had managed to cut his shirt before his father arrived. His dad suddenly just appeared and beat the bad shinobi into the wall. The bad shinobi had shouted some bad things at his dad—what they were, Naruto couldn't remember, he just knew that they were bad—but his dad didn't bat an eye, he just stared the bad guy down until the masked ANBU came and carried him off to their headquarters where he would be questioned and punished.

It was one of Naruto's favorite memories. Not only had his dad saved him from a terrible person who had tried to hurt him, but he'd been so cool doing it. He hadn't been afraid at all—he was so brave and awesome. Naruto wanted to be cool like him when he was grown up.

And after the bad man had been taken away, his dad had held him, letting him cry and get snot all over his nice coat, until he fell asleep. His dad even let him sleep in bed with him for a whole week after it happened because of the nightmares. Those were some of the best memories he had of his dad being so nice to him.

So when his dad came into his hospital room to see him, looking pale and upset, and held him in his lap to hug him, alarm bells went off in his mind. Naruto knew that sometimes he missed stuff that other people found obvious, but there was no way he could miss this. His dad seemed scared, and his dad was _never_ scared. He was the Hokage. He got mad, he got sad, but he never got _scared_.

This had to be some kind of mistake…or maybe a really bad joke.

"Hey, Jiji!" Naruto grinned, as if nothing was wrong. "What's up?"

His father didn't answer him. He didn't say anything at all. He just sat on the hospital bed and hugged Naruto a lot like he had on the night when the bad shinobi had gotten into their house. It just freaked Naruto out.

"Hey!" he squirmed against his father's arms, trying but failing to get enough space so he could look him in the eye. "What's going on?"

"Just a rough day," his father finally answered.

"A lot of whiny genin today?" Naruto guessed.

"I wish."

Now Naruto was totally freaked out. His dad was barely talking to him (which wasn't all that new) and he was upset—not angry-upset, but more like scared-upset. What could possibly freak out his dad, the Hokage who'd stared down countless enemies, even a rampaging fox demon?

"Can I go home yet?" he asked quietly, all his earlier cheer completely gone.

"Not until Tsunade-sama says it's okay," his father answered automatically.

Naruto relaxed against his father's hold and wracked his brains as to what he should do. If he noticed that his dad was mad about something, he'd be quiet and make sure to be extra good so that he wouldn't get even more mad. If he saw that his dad was sad about something, he'd be extra silly to try and cheer him up. But what was he supposed to do when his dad was scared? How could he make it better?

"Dad?" Naruto squeaked anxiously. "What's going on?"

His father gave a little start and glanced down at him with a weak smile. "I'm just having a bad day, Naruto," he sighed. "And I still have to put a seal on Uchiha Sasuke's curse mark later tonight, too."

Even though thinking of his teammate made his shoulder ache, he still had to ask: "Will he be okay?"

Sadness infected his father's wavering smile. "I really don't know," he admitted. "I'm not sure that sealing him will do him much good. Not from what I heard from him today."

"Oh." Naruto wilted and stared down at his hands. "Do you think…that I could visit him sometime?"

His father tensed. "I don't think that's a good idea," he said slowly. "But…if you really want to see him, I'd rather that you wait until after I apply the seals to his mark."

"Okay," Naruto nodded. "Maybe tomorrow then?"

"Maybe," his dad agreed. "Do you mind if I stay a while longer?"

It just seemed too good to be true. This was the second time that his dad had showed up and the only reason seemed to be that he wanted to hang out. The first time had been shocking, and now this second time it felt like a dream. If it happened for a third time, Naruto figured that the world was going to end.

"Stay as long as you like," he invited. _It's not like you'll visit me again until Tsunade-baa-chan lets me out of here…_


	5. Seals, Playing Cards, and Flowers

**Chapter 4**_  
Seals, Playing Cards, and Flowers_

It was nearly midnight when everything was in place for the sealing. Minato waited in the borrowed operating room and double-checked the prearranged seals while a squad of ANBU removed Sasuke from his hospital room under Tsuande-sama's direction. When the Uchiha boy arrived, it would begin.

Behind him were several clan heads ready to witness part of the boy's punishment. Kakashi – the only non-clan leader – stood in for the extinct Uchiha clan as he possessed a Sharingan eye. Hiashi represented the Hyuuga clan, and also was there to see the boy that had led to his nephew's terrible injuries. Tsume and Kuromaru were there for the Inuzuka clan, eager to stare down the Uchiha that had hurt their children. And the fabled "Ino-Shika-Cho" trio was there to round out the witnesses: Inoichi for the Yamanaka clan, Shikaku for the Nara clan (and Shikamaru's father), and Chouza for the Akimichi clan (and Chouji's father). The only major clan head not present was Shibi of the Aburame as he was still off on clan business with his son, Shino.

The air, already tense and heavy, grew stifling when the doors creaked open to admit the Last Uchiha and his escorts. Although the boy was moving under his own power, he was clearly not in good health. He was paler than usual, his steps small and shuffling, and his shoulders were hunched. His eyes were still bound with bandages, and there were metal cuffs around his wrists and ankles, blocking his chakra and preventing him from casting any ninjutsu or genjutsu.

Minato stood silently at the edge of the sealing circles and watched intently as the four masked ANBU positioned Sasuke at the center of the room, removed his shirt, and chained him to rings set in the floor. The ANBU withdrew to guard the door and the small audience stood to attention, ready for anything. The Hokage tuned out all the distractions and started the procedure.

First he painted the last symbols necessary for the sealing directly on the boy's exposed skin. The boy twitched each time he applied the cool ink with the kanji brush, but otherwise had no reaction. He'd undergone a similar procedure when Kakashi had sealed the curse mark the first time. Minato was grateful that the boy wasn't putting up any struggle, and once the last character was completed, he stepped back and got to work.

His hands snapped through several seals and he carefully wove and pushed his chakra through the stone floor and up into paper ofuda painted in kanji seals. There were three rings of kunai buried tip-down in the floor with paper seals tied to the rings at the end of the throwing knife handles surrounded the boy. As his chakra reached the symbols inked on the papers, the black marks peeled off the paper and drifted over the floor towards their target. The characters already painted on his skin shrank down and swirled over his skin towards their targets. The marks from the ofuda crawled up Sasuke's skin like a swarm of strange ants and circled around the trio of black, comma-like marks of the Curse Seal of Heaven. The seal symbols began to arrange themselves in a pair of circles around the marks, while a few sealing symbols slipped away, up the boy's neck and under the bandages that covered his eyes. The entire time Uchiha Sasuke was screaming in agony.

And then it was over. The symbols were in place, the sealing was complete, and the boy was a limp heap on the floor. Minato approached the Uchiha and studied the seals at his neck to make sure that they had settled properly. Satisfied by the inner and outer ring and the "prongs" of that seal, he removed the bandage blindfold to examine the other sealing that he'd done.

The other marks and symbols formed half-circles at the edges of his eyes, running from near his tear ducts to the ends of his eyebrows. Uchiha Sasuke was powerful and he had proven himself untrustworthy, a very dangerous combination. So Minato put together a seal that would greatly reduce the flow of chakra possible to the boy's eyes. The Last Uchiha would never activate his dreaded Sharingan eyes again unless the seals were removed.

"It is done," he sighed and Tsunade-sama came forward to check the boy's vital signs.

"He'll need a few days more of rest," the Sannin declared after her quick exam, "but after that he can be moved to a holding cell until his fate is decided."

"Very good." Minato rubbed tiredly at his eyes. "Take him back to his room," he ordered and the ANBU moved to comply.

"You sealed his eyes?" Tsunade asked quietly as the boy was carried away.

"He greatly misused the gift of his blood," he frowned. "He cannot be trusted to use it responsibly anymore. Maybe some day in the future he might redeem himself and earn the right to have his kekkei genkai restored…but that's a long way off from what I can see."

She nodded silently and departed after the ANBU to tend to the boy.

"You do good work, Hokage-sama," Inuzuka Tsume grinned ferally as she and her wolf-like dog, Kuromaru, left the room. "Good night!"

"Care to join us for a drink, Hokage-sama?" Inoichi invited, speaking for his two friends.

"Not tonight," he smiled weakly. "But thank you for the offer."

The three men nodded and exited the room.

"Good evening, Hokage-sama," Hyuuga Hiashi murmured with a formal bow. "That was most impressive."

"Thank you," Minato replied tiredly.

"The clan elders have expressed an interest in guarding the Uchiha boy within the Hyuuga clan compound should such measures be deemed necessary," Hiashi informed him.

"I'll keep that in mind, Hiashi-sama," the Hokage nodded.

The Hyuuga clan head bowed once more and withdrew without a word.

Although he was tired and moments away from collapsing into bed and unconsciousness, Minato could guess at the reason for the Hyuuga clan's interest in the Uchiha boy. It was rumored that the Sharingan was the result of a mutation of the Byakugan. Perhaps if he was socialized with the Hyuuga, he could be ensnared in a marriage with them and his bloodline could strengthen theirs, or vice versa…or both.

_Somehow I get the feeling that the Hyuuga elders' designs on Sasuke won't work out,_ Minato sighed as he finished clearing up the room and flashed back to his depressingly empty house. _Sasuke is so fixated on vengeance the likelihood of him ever looking at a girl—any girl—with any sort of interest while his brother still lives and breathes is slim to none. And who's to say if the two kekkei genkai are compatible at all? I've never heard of a Hyuuga marrying an Uchiha, let alone having children together. The resulting children might have malformed eyes or no kekkei genkai at all…_

Minato scrubbed at his face with his hands and started to peel off his clothes so that he could climb into his bed. _Little Hinata is the only Hyuuga girl that I could see Sasuke even considering. They're close in age and she is of the Main Family—considered to be the best of their clan… But she's so timid, and I don't recall ever noticing if she had any interest in him at all, like most of her female classmates did during the Academy._

_Nope,_ he shook his head and slunk wearily under the covers, _I really don't think that Sasuke would go for Hinata, or any other Hyuuga girl close enough in age to be appropriate—no matter how much the clan elders might wish it to be so…_

And then he slept.

* * *

Naruto was deadly bored. The constant tiredness and weakness was almost gone, and his shoulder didn't really hurt anymore—unless he really started thinking about it, which made him think that the pain was more in his head than in his shoulder. It was really hard to stay in bed. He had energy now, and his restless nature was starting to get the better of him.

His dad had visited him at least one more time, but he'd been asleep so it didn't really count. He'd gone to sleep one night and in the morning there was a bag sitting on the end of his hospital bed that contained his favorite toad-print pajamas and goofy black and white nightcap. It was a heck of a lot nicer than laying around in the dorky and embarrassing hospital gown—the evil kind that flashed your butt if you weren't careful. But aside from that, there was no sign that his dad had been in his room at all for a couple days.

_Things are getting back to normal, I guess, _he sighed and fingered his nightcap.

While he was a little disappointed at the slow shift back to life-as-usual, he was mostly relieved. Nice as it was for his dad to just show up for no reason and hang out with him, feed him dinner, read a book to him, it was just so indescribably weird too. His dad was the Hokage; it just seemed wrong for him to do things that a regular dad would do.

He rolled onto his stomach and moaned into his thin hospital pillow: "I'm _so bored_, dattebayo!"

The pillow had no response to his whining.

_What can I do, what can I do, what can I do? I'm supposed to be let out in a week, but it hasn't been a whole week yet! So bored, so bored, so bored! Ugh…_

Tired of trying to breathe through the pillow, he rolled back onto his back and stared up at the ceiling blankly. He toyed with the idea of using the call button to summon a nurse for a while, but decided against it. It would take forever for anyone to come check on him—he was the Kyuubi-brat, and therefore was the lowest name on the priority list—and when some nurse did come, they probably wouldn't be very nice, especially when they found out that all he really needed was a little company. He just wasn't desperate enough (yet) to sit up and press the green button on the wall next to the bed.

Aside from the unusually often visits from his dad, he hadn't had many people come see him. There had been Gaara on the first day, but after that the Suna-nin had left Konoha with his siblings so the red-headed demon vessel couldn't come visit him anymore. Kakashi-sensei had stopped in once between back-to-back S-class missions, but that had been brief. Iruka-sensei had managed to stop in twice even though he was just as busy as Kakashi-sensei. Sakura-chan had drifted into his room a couple times, but he could tell that her mind wasn't really focused on him at all, it was consumed with wondering about _her Sasuke-kun_. Tsunade-baa-chan stopped by at least once a day, but he really didn't count that as she was there to give him a health check-up. And he thought that there had been someone else…but whoever that other person was, they only hovered near the door and never came in.

_I'm not allowed to leave the hospital…_ Naruto screwed up his face in concentration for a moment. _But…_a sly grin crept across his whisker-marked face…_I can't get in trouble if I don't leave the hospital. No one said that I wasn't allowed to walk around inside._ He sat straight up and pulled off his nightcap. _I am a genius!_

Grinning like a mad man, he dropped his night hat on the little table next to his bed and almost fell to the floor in his eagerness to get going. He pulled the little bathrobe off the hook near the door, yanked it on over his cartoon-y toad pajamas, and skittered out of the room. Pausing only to check the hall for nurses and medic-nins (AKA those who sought to thwart his semi-freedom), Naruto scampered off in search of something to do.

The blonde boy bounced down the hallway, peering into rooms as he went. Those that were occupied held his interest a longer than the empty ones (of course). The unfortunate ninja (once in a great while, a civilian) usually had at least one visitor or one vase of flowers.

_I don't have any flowers,_ he pouted after spying a room decked out with _five_ bouquets of flowers. _But I guess that's a girl thing—to give flowers,_ he mused thoughtfully. He'd never seen a guy give another guy flowers for any reason. Girls were the flower-givers. _And girls don't visit me…_ (Sakura-chan's visits didn't count; her mind was never in the room with them when she came by.)

Naruto continued his little tour of the hospital, only stopping to hide when he risked being caught by some hospital-affiliated adult. He avoided the busier hallways to prolong his amusement and avoid lectures (oh he hated those). But unfortunately his stamina hadn't really recovered, and after an hour his legs started to feel shaky.

_I need to sit down somewhere for a while,_ he decided. _But where? Not my room; that's boring…_

Just as he was about ready to settle for a chair out in the hall to rest his legs, he found a room that contained someone he knew. Cautiously poking his head into the dimly lit room, he spied Akimichi Chouji laid out in his hospital cot and hooked up to various medical machines. He looked awful. His old classmate looked emaciated, which was just plain wrong. Chouji had always been fat. It was a family trait. To see him so freakishly skinny was just plain wrong.

Nara Shikamaru was also there, playing a game of shogi against himself beside the bed. The lazy genius—amazingly the first of his class to make chuunin—looked perfectly healthy, completely untouched by the "Sasuke retrieval" mission. His black hair was done up in its signature spiky ponytail, giving his head a vague resemblance to a pineapple, and his brown eyes were droopy, like he was bored out of his mind and ready to take a nap. Maybe he _was_; playing shogi against yourself had to get really old after a while, especially for a genius like Shikamaru.

"Hey Shikamaru," Naruto whispered loudly. It probably didn't matter if he shouted or not, Chouji didn't look like he'd wake up for anything right now, but he oddly felt the need to be quiet. "Can I play?"

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow at him. "You _want _to play?"

"Eh, not really," Naruto shrugged and trudged into the room. "But it's something to do. And beating my butt's got to be more fun than playing yourself, right?"

"Doubtful," the chuunin snorted. "It's troublesome, but I'll play a few rounds."

The game board was rearranged so that they could both reach it and the pieces were reset. Naruto got his butt thoroughly beaten—as he'd expected, he sucked at the game and had little patience for strategy—but he kept playing, if only to make the time pass faster. Shikamaru was kind enough to humor him, and a few rounds he knew the other boy was dragging his feet to try and give him some pathetically slim chance at winning. But Naruto never won once.

"Man, you really suck at this game," Shikamaru yawned.

"I know," Naruto groaned as his last piece was captured.

The chuunin slumped tiredly back into his seat. "If it wasn't so troublesome, I'd find a deck of cards so that maybe you could win a game or two."

"Hey, that a great idea!" Naruto perked up and grinned. "I'll go find some!" He half sprung out of his seat, but paused and glanced over at the unnaturally skinny Chouji still out cold. "Shikamaru, what happened to Chouji?"

"He took all three of his family's secret pills," the other boy answered.

Naruto frowned in deep concentration. "But…didn't you say that if he did that, he'd die?"

"He should have," Shikamaru muttered. "He almost did," he looked over sadly at his formerly chubby friend. "If Tsunade-sama hadn't been here and studied my family's book of medicine, he would've died."

Naruto winced. "Well…when I get out of here, I'm smuggling in some potato chips for him!"

"Heh, he'll love that," Shikamaru chuckled.

"Yeah!" Naruto flashed his famous (or infamous) foxy grin and finished springing out of his seat. "Now to find some playing cards!"

Mission firmly in mind, he rushed out of the room—

—And came within inches of colliding with Rock Lee.

Rock Lee was more than Maito Gai's prized student, he was his miniature clone. Really, it was shocking that there weren't related at all. Lee idolized his beloved sensei so much that he strived to emulate him in every way possible. He dressed in the same green one-piece spandex suit with the bright orange leg-warmers and the hitae-ate worn as a belt, had the same black-haired bowl-cut, and the same freakishly thick eyebrows. And in addition to simply looking like his sensei, Lee also copied his "philosophies" and attitudes. Naruto found it kinda creepy and excessive…but whatever made them happy.

"Ah, Naruto-san!" Lee exclaimed. "It is good to see you up and about. Your brilliant flames of Youth will soon burn brightly once more!" He gave Naruto an enthusiastic thumbs up and a toothy smile so wide and shiny that they sparkled with an audible "ping".

"Heh, yeah, sure," Naruto laughed weakly and scratched at the back of his head. He admired Lee's enthusiasm and drive—it took a lot of guts to strive to be a ninja when his chakra coils were so malformed that he would never be able to perform any genjutsu or ninjutsu—but even Naruto found him to be really, really weird. "Hey Bushy Brows! Do you have any playing cards?"

"I am sorry, Naruto-san, but no, I do not have any playing cards," Lee informed him with great regret. "But I shall try and find you some!" the older boy resolved. "And if I cannot find you playing cards to use, I will run one thousand laps around the hospital grounds before sunset! And if I cannot do that, I will—"

"Okay, thanks Bushy Brows!" Naruto called and hurried off down the hall. "I'll keep looking, too!" And then he rushed around the corner, leaving the spandex-clad genin swearing ever more elaborate self-induced punishments for failure to thin air.

_Man, that guy's nuts!_ Naruto grinned as he ducked into the shadow of a cart to avoid being seen by a small pack of chatting nurses. _But I'm glad he's on my side._

Once the coast was clear, Naruto ditched his hiding place and continued along, peering into rooms and keeping an eye out for a deck of cards. A few rooms down, he discovered Hyuuga Neji's room. The lights were lowered, like in Chouji's room, only he had no current visitors. He also didn't have as many flowers as Chouji, but then again Ino was on Chouji's team and her family _owned_ a flower shop…

He too was out cold and hooked up to a lot of machines. The Hyuuga prodigy looked even paler than normal and if Naruto didn't know any better he might've thought that the older boy was dead. The Caged Bird Seal that Neji had shown him during their match in the Chuunin Exams was totally exposed and the vibrant green "—X—" mark almost seemed to glow in the dark against his white skin.

Unwilling to disturb the other boy, Naruto moved on without a word.

A few minutes after that, he found Kiba. The Inuzuka was awake and reading some manga. Akamaru, his little white puppy, was curled up on a little pet-sized hospital bed thingy and half-swathed in bandages. While his little dog didn't look so good, Kiba actually didn't look bad at all. He easily looked ten times better than Chouji or Neji.

"Hey, Kiba!" Naruto called from the doorway. "Do you have any playing cards?"

The brown-haired boy dropped his manga into his lap and flashed him a toothy, feral grin. "Naruto!" he waved a little. "Nah, I don't have any cards. What do you want them for?"

"I got tired of Shikamaru kicking my butt in shogi. There's a chance that I can win at cards."

"Maybe I can ask my sister to bring me a deck later," Kiba shrugged. "…So long as you let me play too."

"Sure thing!" Naruto grinned. "Hey, is Akamaru okay?"

Kiba's face fell a little. "He'll be alright. He just needs rest." The Inuzuka grinned weakly. "Pretty soon we'll be bouncing off trees and practicing _dynamic marking_ again!"

"Yeah!" Naruto laughed and wrinkled his nose. "Just don't do that near me!"

"So long as you keep your wits about you and your senses alert you shouldn't have to worry about getting hit with a little dog pee," Kiba snorted.

"Whatever," Naruto grumbled.

A startled squeak off to the side distracted Naruto from whatever else he was going to say and he pulled his head out of Kiba's room to find a girl staring at him. She wore a shapeless, beige coat, wore her indigo-ish black hair in a short, almost boyish cut, and clutched a bunch of flowers to her chest. Her violet-white eyes were wide and her pale face was rapidly turning a deep shade of red.

For a long moment Naruto couldn't connect a name with her face, and then the rusty wheels of his mind shifted a little and he remembered. "Oh, hey Hinata! You came to see Kiba too?"

She stared at him open-mouthed for a little while longer before snapping out of her weird trance. The girl tore her eyes away from him and bowed her head to stare at the tiles under her feet. Her shoulders hunched, her toes seemed to turn inward, and overall it looked like she was shrinking in on herself and trying to disappear.

"I-I-I'm s-sorry," she whispered so quietly that he could barely hear her. "W-w-what w-was the q-q-question?"

"Never mind, it was a stupid question." Naruto laughed a little bit and scratched at the back of his head. _Of course she's here to see Kiba; they're teammates._

"Oh," she mumbled and shifted nervously.

Silence fell in the hallway and Naruto got very uncomfortable. This kind of silence reminded him of his empty house. He hated it, and he'd even say something stupid just to make it stop.

"Are those flowers for Kiba?"

"Uh…u-um, y-yes," she whispered. "S-some of them."

"Some of them?" He frowned thoughtfully. "The rest of the flowers are for Neji, right?" _I kinda forgot that Neji is her cousin…oops._

She nodded mutely.

"That's cool," he grinned widely. "It's really nice of you to bring them both flowers. Nobody's brought me _any_!"

Her head jerked up in shock. "Nobody?"

"Nope," he shrugged.

"Sakura-san didn't b-bring you any?"

"Nope." _My name isn't Uchiha Sasuke, so why would she bother to get me flowers?_

Hinata looked a little upset to hear this and dropped her eyes to the colorful bouquet of flowers clutched in her own hands. Her fingers fiddled anxiously, making the clear plastic wrap around the flowers crackle. Then she seemed to come to a decision and plucked a gaudy yellow flower from the bunch and stiffly held it out to him.

"For…me?" he blinked dumbly.

"Y-y-yes." She almost choked on the word and her pupil-less eyes couldn't seem to look directly at him. Her face, which had almost returned to its normal pale color, was once again a vibrant red.

Naruto half-raised his hand to take the flower, but hesitated. "Really?"

She gave a jerky nod.

He tentatively grasped the stem, took the flower from her, and sniffed at it, somehow not expecting it to be real. It smelled nice and quite real. He found himself grinning.

"Hey, thanks a lot Hinata!" he cried and took off towards his hospital room. "I'll see you later!"

All hospital rooms came with one empty vase to hold flowers. Naruto had noticed that years ago, but never paid much mind to it as he never got any flowers to put in the vase. Now that he finally had a flower to decorate his room with, he was determined to take good care of it so that it would last a really long time. Who knew when he'd get another one?

In his rush he didn't bother to avoid the busier hallways or other people. He just focused on getting from "point A" to "point B" as quickly as possible. And of course this got him into trouble.

A burly medic caught him by the back of his hospital-issue robe and brought him to a screeching halt. Before he caught up with what was going on, the medic was standing directly in front of him, blocking his way, and had taken the flower from him. The white-clad man possessed an imposing build and the angry, stern look on his face made it even worse.

"What room did you steal this from?" the medic demanded, twitching the little flower at him.

Naruto exploded. "I didn't steal it, you jerk! Hinata gave it to me! Now give it back, dattebayo!"

"Don't lie, brat!" the medic snapped. "Who would bother to give _you_ a flower?"

An invisible hand squeezed his insides. It was about the Kyuubi again. It always was. Really, who would give a flower to the Kyuubi-brat? Who would _dare_? So of course the medic assumed that—

"What is going on here?"

Naruto blinked and found a hand grasping the medic by the wrist. He expected that the hand would be attached to Tsunade-baa-chan or Shizune-nee-chan. Or maybe it would be Iruka-sensei or Kakashi-sensei that had come to his rescue. Heck, maybe it was even Ero-Sennin, taking a break from peeping or bar-hopping. But no, it was the Yondaime Hokage, his dad, who stood there and pinned the medic down with his icy-blue stare.

"H-Hokage-sama," the medic sputtered and seemed to shrink. "T-the boy…he-he was running through the halls and he had this flower…he must've taken it from one of the rooms—"

"He says that I stole it, but I didn't!" Naruto wailed. "Hinata gave it to me!"

His dad removed the flower from the hand he had trapped and handed it down to Naruto without breaking his stare. "Do not jump to such rude and insulting conclusions, sir," he warned. Then he finally turned away and looked down at Naruto. "This is a hospital, Naruto. No running in the halls unless it's a dire, life-and-death emergency, okay?"

"Yes, sir," Naruto mumbled and checked over the flower stem for damage. "Sorry."

His father flashed the medic a final stern looked before nudging Naruto along down the hall. Naruto was more than happy to leave. He didn't like that medic and his flower needed water.

"So Hyuuga Hinata gave you that flower?" his dad asked when they arrived in his room.

"Yeah," Naruto nodded and plunked the yellow blossom into the little vase. "I ran into her outside of Kiba's room and she gave it to me."

"That was very nice of her," he remarked. "I hope you remembered to thank her."

"I did," Naruto huffed and crawled onto his hospital bed. After all the running and the excitement his legs were feeling tired and wobbly again.

His father sat down on the edge of the bed. "What were you doing out of your room anyway?"

"I was bored," Naruto sighed. "There's nothing to do here by myself." He perked up a little as he recalled his mission. "I was looking for playing cards so I could play with Shikamaru. I tried to play shogi with him, but I really suck at that game and he's really super-awesome at it, so it got boring really fast. Could you find some playing cards for us to use, Jiji? Please?"

"Sure," his father grinned. "I can do that. You stay here and I'll be right back."

"Thanks," Naruto smiled and curled up under the thin hospital sheets.

As his father left, he closed his eyes—just for a moment—while he waited. At some point after that he dozed off. When he opened his eyes again it was a few hours later and there was a worn deck of cards sitting on the little bedside table. Tsunade-baa-chan's name was written on the box in black marker.

_I hope these cards are luckier than she is. I wanna win against Shikamaru for a change!_


	6. Enigmas and Old Maid

**Chapter 5**_  
Enigmas and Old Maid_

Nara Shikamaru fingered a shogi tile as he idly studied the board. On one side of the board, he was playing with a set strategy. On the other, he was making things up as he went along while trying not to taint his moves with the fact that he knew exactly what the next move was going to be on the first side. But his mind wasn't entirely on the exercise.

He prided himself on his ability to be able to predict how his classmates and friends would react or behave in certain situations. He was best at figuring out his own teammates, Ino and Chouji, as he spent the most time with them. But given enough time he could figure out just about anyone. That is, except for Uzumaki Naruto.

The kid was a wild card, no doubt about it. Shikamaru could predict what he would do, but only to a point. Past that point, it was anyone's guess as to what he would do next. In battle especially he seemed able to make up battle strategies on the fly and make them work somehow. For instance, he'd never thought that Naruto could go toe-to-toe with Hyuuga Neji, let alone beat the prodigy…but he _had_. It had been a last-minute, skin-of-the-teeth victory, but still a victory.

Naruto was an enigma. Ino was always gushing about how mysterious and enigmatic Sasuke was, but in Shikamaru's opinion, Naruto beat the Uchiha. Sure he was bright and loud and visible, always laughing and smiling or yelling and gesturing, and he seemed like an open, easy-to-read book. But his unpredictable nature proved that assumption to be wrong. His gaudy outside hid whatever he was really thinking deep on the inside…if he was thinking at all.

And then there was the question of just who was he? Sure, they all knew his name—Uzumaki Naruto—but that didn't explain his origins. There was no Uzumaki family; Naruto seemed to be the only one of his kind. No one had ever seen any parents or guardians so it was assumed that he lived alone. And no one knew where he lived or how much money he had or anything else like that. No one even seemed to wonder about it.

Shikamaru hated to admit it, but he hadn't ever wondered about it either. That is, until he'd picked up Naruto for the mission to drag Sasuke back to the village. Tsunade-sama had recommended him and given him Naruto's address. Figuring that it couldn't hurt to put him on the team (he had _some_ useful skills), he'd gone along with it and found his way to Naruto's door just as the sun was peeking over the horizon.

To his surprise, Naruto lived in one of the nicest neighborhoods in Konoha. His house wasn't the biggest or fanciest on the street, but it was bigger and nicer than his own house by a good amount. Shikamaru almost thought that he was at the wrong address. But when he rang the bell, Naruto came to the door in his pajamas and stupid nightcap, half-awake.

_There's no way that he lives there alone,_ Shikamaru mused. _Even if he just inherited the place from dead relatives, he has to have a guardian of some sort staying there, to take care of the house if nothing else. So who is it? Some mysterious parent who never showed up at the Academy? Or some foster?_

Unfortunately, it was an interesting puzzle, and he had trouble resisting puzzles. They were just so interesting and his mind just seemed drawn to them like a magnet. No matter how incredibly troublesome they turned out to be, he would always pick away at a puzzle until he had a solution.

_You're so troublesome, Naruto_. Shikamaru made a face at his shogi board. _Why'd you have to be such a puzzle?_

* * *

As soon as he finished his breakfast the next morning, Naruto snagged the deck of cards and slipped out of his bed. He paused to admire the flower that Hinata gave him before he slipped out of the room, wary of any other nasty medics out to get him. Even though he only had two days left in the hospital before he was supposed to be released, there was no way he was laying around in his room. He was going to have some fun.

_That was really nice of Hinata to give me that flower yesterday._ He dove under a gurney as some medics started down the hallway. _She might be really weird and all, but she's so nice too. At least she didn't faint. Maybe she's getting healthier! That'd be cool._

When the coast was clear, he resumed his trek towards Chouji's room. If Shikamaru wasn't there yet, he'd hit up Kiba's room. Either way, he'd get to use the cards that his dad had borrowed for him.

He found the best of both worlds when he reached his destination. Not only was Shikamaru there, but Kiba was there too. Kiba had come in a wheelchair for a visit, and Akamaru lying in his lap.

"Hey!" he skidded into the room, waving the pack of cards over his head. "I found some cards!"

"Took you long enough," Kiba snorted. "Almost a whole day."

"I got tired and fell asleep and then it was kinda late," Naruto huffed. "Otherwise I woulda brought them by yesterday."

"Sure, sure," Kiba smirked.

Naruto made a face. "Well did your sister bring you any?"

Kiba squirmed. "No, she was too busy and didn't stick around long enough for me to ask her."

"Hah!" Naruto pushed a chair over to the other two boys at Chouji's bedside and settled into it. "Let's play!"

"Fine," Shikamaru sighed wearily. "What do you want to play?"

"Old maid!" Kiba cried.

Naruto blinked. "Uh…how do you play that?"

"You don't know how to play old maid?" Kiba snorted. "What rock do you live under?"

"Shut up!" Naruto snapped, flushing a little in angry embarrassment. "I know how to play go fish!"

"Old maid is so much better," Kiba sniffed.

"Well tell me how to play and we'll play!" Naruto scowled and pushed the cards into Shikamaru's hands.

"What card games do you know how to play, Naruto?" Shikamaru asked as he dumped the cards out of their worn box.

"Um…just go fish," Naruto muttered. "Ero-Sennin said he was going to teach me how to play poker, but he hasn't yet and I was more interested in learning new jutsu instead of cards."

"Really, what rock do you live under?" Kiba frowned.

"Shut up! I don't live under a rock!" Naruto whined.

"He's just teasing you, Naruto," Shikamaru groaned. "Quit whining." He shuffled the cards and started to deal them out. "Now here's how you play…"

* * *

Minato wanted to kill something, preferably the person currently in front of him. Danzou, the bane of the previous Hokage's existence, was still alive and spreading misery, only now _he_ was the one stuck dealing with it. Why couldn't the old war-hawk just lie down and die of old age already?

Danzou had been a strong shinobi in his prime, but that time was long past. A hard career in ANBU had left him physically maimed and disfigured and forced him to retire from active service. Most of his head was swathed in bandages to hide the hideous burn scars he'd suffered, he had lost part of his leg which left him dependant on a can to walk, and part of his arm which he left in a sling. He was small and elderly and mean and conniving.

He'd once been in charge of all of ANBU, held a seat on the council, and held designs on the office of Hokage. But as a result of various little intrigues and his disobedience during the advance of the Kyuubi, Minato had shuffled him to a lesser council seat and left him in charge of ANBU's ROOT division, which he later disbanded. He would've gotten rid of Danzou completely if he could, but the wily old man had connections that he just couldn't quite overcome.

"You're dragging your feet on this, Namikaze," Danzou growled. "I'd have made up my mind about the Uchiha on day one."

"I'm sure that you would, Danzou-san," Minato replied, trying not to growl. "However, I haven't received all the reports yet. Some of the genin involved haven't recovered enough to give their accounts yet."

"Have you gotten the Uzumaki's report yet?" Danzou asked. "I've heard that he's recovered well from his injuries—runs around the hospital like a little boy on a sugar high."

It took some effort for Minato to maintain a mildly pleasant expression. "I was planning on taking Uzumaki Naruto's report this afternoon, and perhaps Inuzuka Kiba's as well if the boy is up to it," he replied tightly.

The old man scowled. "You coddle that boy too much, Namikaze. With the Kyuubi's power at his disposal, he could be a great asset to the village. Give me a few months with him and I'll turn him from a pathetic little clown into something valuable."

"No," Minato responded icily. "It was no the last time you asked and it will be no the next time you ask."

"Are you sure that you can continue to handle the boy properly?" Danzou asked with clear skepticism. "Now that he is an official ninja, able to mold chakra and put into life-and-death decisions, do you believe you've taught him enough to keep the beast within him under control? He's not some cute little thing that you can keep as a pet anymore, Namikaze."

Minato wanted to slug him for that last comment. "I have never thought of Naruto as a pet," he hissed.

"Oh, that's right, you treat him as the son that you never had," Danzou sneered. "Right?"

Clenching his teeth, Minato refused to go for the bait. From the moment of his birth, from the moment that Minato had decided to make him the Jinchuuriki, he had shrouded Naruto's existence in a veil of lies. It was the only way to protect his son from the myriad of enemies he would have, both foreign and domestic.

When he'd presented Naruto to the council as the jailor of the Kyuubi no Yoko, he'd introduced him as an orphan whose mother had died giving birth to him. While the part about his mother had been true, the rest was a lie. Had they known that he was really Naruto's father, they would've put up a fight over letting him keep the boy. They would fear that he would be biased towards the boy, that it would a conflict of interest. They would fear that he would act like an indulgent father instead of the Hokage with the child that carried the Kyuubi in his guts.

And had the world at large known that he, the Yondaime Hokage, had a son, any who held a grudge against him would strike out at him through his child. The Iwa-nin especially hated him and they held grudges for ages. If they knew about Naruto, they wouldn't rest until they'd stolen him away or killed him. And with all the internal worries about keeping Naruto safe from his own side, he would do just about anything to minimize his foreign enemies.

So Minato, as the Hokage, took in the Jinchuuriki that he'd helped create, as it was his responsibility, and that had been the end of it.

Things would've worked out a great deal smoother, though, if Naruto didn't look like his miniature clone. When he'd been a baby, he could pass off the similarities—blonde hair and blue eyes—as superficial and coincidental. But with each passing year, as his son grew and developed, the resemblance grew stronger and stronger. The only feature that really set them apart was Naruto's whisker marks, and those weren't genetic, they were a sign of the fox demon residing inside of him.

Some of the council members had to suspect by now. They probably thought that Naruto was some illegitimate son that Minato had managed to cook up just in time. At this point, it didn't seem to be a problem—no one had ever called him on it or accused him of it. But now Danzou seemed poised to change all that…

"If you have no business to discuss, please get out of my office, Danzou," Minato frowned.

The old man peered shrewdly at him with his one visible eye. "I'll stop by tomorrow," he grumbled finally. "I am most interested to hear of the Uzumaki's increased abilities, and I'm sure the rest of the council will too."

Then Danzou stiffly rose from his chair before the Hokage's desk and hobbled from the room without a farewell or bow of any kind.

Minato seethed. While he was immensely glad that the old man was finally gone from his office, he couldn't entirely enjoy the now Danzou-free atmosphere. The conniving elder was just so irritating…and worse, he was very dangerous.

_Now I __**have**__ to get Naruto's report,_ he sighed wearily. _I've been dragging my feet long enough, but now there's no wiggle room left at all. Danzou will go around throwing hints at the other council members about the information that I'm about to collect and they'll be demanding to hear it at the next meeting._

Tense and on-edge, he abandoned his office after informing his secretary that he would be at the hospital if anyone needed him, and that he was not to be disturbed unless it was necessary. Leaping over the rooftops, he took a zigzagging course to try and burn off some of his frustration before he arrived. It wouldn't do if he interviewed Naruto while in a bad mood; he didn't want to confuse the boy.

When he arrived at Naruto's room…it was empty. Rubbing a hand over his face, he trudged from the room and headed for Akimichi Chouji's room. Naruto had wanted the playing cards so that he could play with Nara Shikamaru, and the young chuunin would most likely be found in his teammate's room.

Sure enough, once he reached the Akimichi's room, Naruto was there, laying on the foot of Chouji's bed, playing cards in his hospital robe and toad pajamas. Nara Shikamaru was lazily clutching his own hand and looking about ready to lay his head down for a nap. Chouji was surprisingly conscious and propped up on pillows with his own set of cards held loosely in his hands. And Inuzuka Kiba was also present, still in his hospital gown and slightly hunched over in a chair next to Shikamaru's. His puppy was dozing in the seat of a nearby wheelchair.

Looking over the scene, Minato was reminded of the occasional card game he'd get sucked into with other jounin when he was a teenager. It made him smile and brushed away his lingering bad mood. He could wait until the card games petered out before he started asking Naruto and Kiba unpleasant questions about the mission that had landed them in the hospital.

"Having fun boys?" he asked, leaning against the doorframe.

All four boys flinched in surprise and spun to gape at him.

"Hokage-sama," Shikamaru blinked, the first to recover his voice. "Is something wrong?"

"No."

"Do you need Shikamaru for a mission?" Chouji asked feebly, barely able to lift his head off the pillows that supported him.

"No, not yet."

"Are we in trouble for playing cards?" Kiba squeaked.

Minato frowned slightly. "You're not playing for money, are you?"

"NO!" they all sputtered.

"Then no, you're not in trouble."

Naruto eyed him curiously. "Uh…do you want to play? We're playing old maid!"

He glanced over at the other three boys curiously. "Would it bother you if I joined you?"

The three other boys started in surprise and glanced at each other in silent communication. Naruto stared back at him in surprise, like he hadn't expected Minato to be interested in the invitation. Minato just waited for the other boys to make up their minds.

"Alright," Shikamaru nodded, gathered up all the cards, and reshuffled them to start a fresh game.

Minato retrieved a chair and settled it next to Kiba's. Settling himself comfortably, he accepted his hand of cards and waited for the game to get going. Even though it was just a simple children's game, he found himself looking forward to it more than he had the last few games of poker he'd been yanked into back in the day.

A few rounds later, Minato sighed. "You boys are allowed to talk in front of me, you know."

Naruto wrinkled his nose in thought. "So…how's your day been?"

_You just had to ask that, didn't you?_ He sighed and studied his cards. "Oh nothing much out of the ordinary. Danzou stopped by and made a pest of himself for a while…"

"Danzou?" Kiba sniffed curiously. "Who's that?"

"Danzou," Naruto muttered, closing his eyes in contemplation. "Hey!" he leaned forward eagerly. "Isn't he the Mummy Man?"

"The Mummy Man?" Chouji blinked slowly.

The corner of Minato's mouth twitched. "Yes, Naruto, he's the Mummy Man."

"Ew, I hate that guy!" Naruto snorted. "He's such a jerk, and he's so old too!"

"How's he such a jerk?" Kiba asked.

"He's really nasty and disrespectful," Naruto scowled and pointed over at Minato. "He's never, ever called him 'Hokage' or 'Hokage-sama' or anything like that, it's just 'Namikaze'—no honorific or anything!"

"Like you're any better," Kiba smirked. "Calling him 'Hokage-jiji' to his face all the time!"

"Hey, I mean it in a good way!" Naruto protested. "Mummy Man never means anything in a good way. He's just a nasty, shriveled old guy with a cane that's all wrapped up in bandages." He pouted over at Minato. "Why don't you just fire him, Jiji?"

"I would if I could, Naruto," Minato sighed and drew a card from his son's hand. "But Danzou is cunning. He's cultivated friendships and connections with powerful people; just enough that if I were to strip him of everything, he'd cause such trouble that it could be years before I get everything running smoothly. The best I can do is stuff him in a position where he can do the least damage."

Naruto made a face and picked a card off Kiba. "Well that sucks."

"Tell me about it," Minato replied with a wry smile.

"Is there any reason why he's so nasty, Hokage-sama?" Chouji asked quietly as Shikamaru retrieved a card from Minato's hand for him.

"Danzou's wanted to be Hokage since before Sandaime-sama was chosen for the position," Minato answered.

"Wow, this dude's seriously old," Kiba muttered.

"He never thought highly of how Sandaime-sama ran things," the Hokage continued, ignoring Kiba's comment. "And when the Sandaime was getting ready to retire, Danzou put himself up for consideration and threw some support behind Orochimaru to be the Yondaime."

"Okay, this guy sounds like bad news," Chouji sighed. "I mean, if he liked Orochimaru…"

"Danzou favors more aggressive foreign policy…among other things," Minato frowned. "Anyway, imagine how upset he was when I, a young man barely in my twenties, was selected to be the next Hokage." He shook his head. "To this day, he still refuses to willingly recognize me as the Yondaime. And so long as he lives, I think he'll still dream of getting to be Hokage."

"Even though he's ugly, missing part of his arm and leg, and older than dirt!" Naruto chimed in disgustedly.

"My advice to you"—he looked at each boy in turn, eying Naruto last and longest—"is to steer clear of him, he'll only bring you trouble…and make my life harder."

"Yes, Hokage-sama," the boys agreed in ragged unison (and Naruto said "Jiji", of course).

He nodded in satisfaction and was about to put his full focus back on the cards in his hand when another body skidded into the room, one Yamanaka Ino.

"Hey Chouji! Shika-kun! Guess who's he—H-Hokage-sama!"

Minato slowly turned around in his chair to find the blonde kunoichi gaping at him. Her platinum blonde hair was still short from when she'd impulsively hacked it off during her match in the Forest of Death against Haruno Sakura and done up in a bun. She was dressed in her purple ninja outfit so she had either been training or was going to go train after her hospital visit. Recovering herself, Ino straightened up and brushed her long bangs out of her eyes.

"Hokage-sama," she bowed slightly.

He nodded politely to her. "Ino-san. Here to visit your teammates?"

Before she could answer, her father, Inoichi, swept into the room behind her. "Ino, you shouldn't run like that in the hos…pital. Hey, Hokage-sama," he bowed and then leaned back out the door. "Chouza, Shikaku, the Hokage's here!"

Akimichi Chouza trundled into the room next. "Hokage-sama," he bowed and slipped around to the far side of his son's bed.

"Hokage-sama," Nara Shikaku muttered as he too slunk into the room. "A party, eh?" he grumbled, glancing around at the clump of people. "So troublesome."

"Hey Oyaji," Shikamaru waved lazily. "Hiding from Mom again?"

"Maybe," Shikaku grumbled noncommittally. "What brings you here, Hokage-sama?"

"He's hiding from the Mummy Man," Naruto informed them gravely.

Inoichi blinked. "Who?"

"Danzou," Minato replied.

"Oh." Inoichi let out a snort of laughter. "Mummy Man…that's pretty good!"

"Indeed," Chouza agreed. "What are you boys playing?"

"Old maid," Kiba announced.

"That's such a baby game!" Ino sniffed. "Whose idea was that?"

"Uh…I suggested it, but Naruto really wanted to play it," Kiba answered, somewhat embarrassed. "He didn't even know how to play."

"You didn't know how to play old maid?" Ino sputtered incredulously. "What rock have you been living under your whole life?"

"I don't live under a rock!" Naruto shouted, dropping his cards and hopping to his feet on the end of Chouji's bed, absolutely irate.

Minato sighed, put down his cards, and stood up. He'd hoped to be able to play through a full game, but it looked like he would have to see if he could play later. With the "Ino-Shika-Cho" adults on the scene and Naruto acting up, he had an excuse to carry the boy off for a while. There was no putting it off anymore.

"Of course you don't live under a rock, Naruto," he stated tiredly and plucked the boy off the bed and tossed him over his shoulder.

"Ah! Put me down, dattebayo!" Naruto whined and pounded his little fists against Minato's back. "Put me down, Jiji!"

"Nope," he gripped the boy's legs firmly to avoid getting kicked. "I'm kidnapping you, alright?"

"No!" Naruto moaned and tried to heave himself over the Hokage's shoulder so that he could flee.

"Too bad," Minato grinned. He nodded to the staring audience. "Have a nice afternoon. I'll send him back when I'm done with him."

"Save me, Shikamaru!" Naruto pleaded, but to no avail.

Minato escaped from the room without any interference, to Naruto's dismay. Being the Hokage had its perks. Not a single person questioned him as he walked down the hall with his son hung over his shoulder moaning how unfair life was. But his unhindered escape also meant that he would make it back to the privacy of Naruto's hospital room that much faster, and then he would have to ask his son about his unhappy adventure that much sooner.

_Today just plain sucks!_


	7. The Good And The Bad

**Chapter 6**_  
The Bad and The Good_

Naruto huffed and angrily crossed his arms over his chest when his dad dumped him on his hospital bed. Being carried around like a sack of potatoes was fun when he was two, but it wasn't all that fun now that he was twelve. And his dad just had to do it in a public place, in front of his friends and some of their dads.

"What was that for?" Naruto pouted furiously.

"I need to talk to you and that seemed the fastest way to get you out of there." His father slid shut the door and shrugged. "With other visitors to distract them it seemed like the perfect opportunity."

"What do you need to talk to me about?" Naruto asked warily.

His dad didn't immediately answer. Instead he pulled a small notebook and pencil out of his pocket and settled down on the chair that he'd permanently parked next to the bed. He looked calm and serious—very Hokage-like.

_Uh-oh…_

"I wish that I didn't have to ask, but I've put this off long enough," he sighed. "Naruto, I need to know what happened after Shikamaru-san fell back to engage Tayuya up to when Rock Lee took over the battle with Kimimaro, and your pursuit and fight with Uchiha Sasuke."

Naruto shivered and hugged himself. He didn't want to remember. It was so awful. And he was just starting to really feel normal again…

But after he told his dad, the Hokage, about it, he could forget it and never speak of it again.

"Okay." Naruto took a few deep breaths and got started. "So Shikamaru sends me on alone after this creepy Kimimaro guy and…"

* * *

Shikamaru leaned back in his chair and thought hard. His dad was napping, Ino and her dad and Chouji's dad were chatting with Chouji, and Kiba had shuffled back to the wheelchair he'd rode in on and had Akamaru back in his lap. But he tuned it all out in favor of thinking about Naruto and the Hokage.

It was absolutely bizarre that the Hokage would stop by in person at all—and for no reason other than he seemed to feel like it. That alone was enough to get him thinking. Then Naruto goes and invites him to join their game. That didn't seem too unusual, considering Naruto's total lack of respect—or just lack of _proper_ respect—for authority figures. But the fact that the Hokage accepted, even seemed excited to play with them—kids, genin and a chuunin—didn't quite seem to fit.

Then there was the way that the two interacted. They spoke easily, like they talked together all the time (although, considering Naruto's penchant for pranks back in the Academy, maybe they _did_ talk all the time…). And when the Hokage mentioned some village official that he didn't like, Naruto knew who he was talking about and had even tacked on a mildly insulting nickname: the Mummy Man. When would Naruto have ever met this Danzou character to give him such a moniker?

And to top it off, there was the way that the Hokage had left with Naruto. He tossed the kid over his shoulder like a piece of luggage. It was like watching a dad mess with his kid…

_Naruto lives in a nice house in a nice neighborhood. He and the Hokage get along like family. …And they look freakishly alike._

Shikamaru frowned.

_If Naruto __**is**__ related to the Hokage, why don't any of us know about it? Why isn't Naruto yelling it from the rooftops? He certainly won't stop boasting about how he's going to be Hokage someday…so why not add: "just like my dad"?_

_…Damn it, Naruto! Everything I come up with leads to more questions! Troublesome kid._

* * *

When Naruto hit the Valley of the End in his story, he couldn't look at his dad anymore. He dropped his eyes to the tile floor and recounted the events as clearly and calmly as possible. If he didn't, he was afraid that he wouldn't be able to get through the whole thing.

He also was scared. He'd drawn on a lot of the Kyuubi's chakra, more than he ever had before. The chakra had done something that it hadn't done before. It made him worry that he would be in trouble.

Naruto went over everything that happened. He related what Sasuke said to him. He talked about getting run through the shoulder by the Chidori, getting his neck broken, Sasuke's freakish form granted by the second level of his curse seal, and the final clash in front of the waterfall. And then when he hit the end, he closed his eyes and waited.

His father's calloused hands slid under his arms and lifted him off the bed and plopped him on his lap. Naruto blinked, suddenly staring at the dull green of his dad's flak jacket, and felt arms hugging him. Something shivered inside him, then broke. He choked, he sobbed, and he couldn't stop.

"Naruto," his dad whispered gently. "Shh, it's over now, shh."

"Daddy," Naruto choked, "Sasuke, h-he t-t-tried to k-kill m-me! And-and he s-said th-that we were f-friends!"

"I know, I know."

"Why?" he sobbed, clutching at the edges of his father's Hokage coat.

His dad said nothing, just held onto him and let him cry and get tears and snot and spit all over.

Eventually Naruto wore himself out and quieted down to the occasional hitched breath or watery sniff. He felt sick, his stomach ached and his head throbbed and he could barely breathe through the tears and snot. His father just held him and rubbed his back and said nothing.

The sound of the door scraping open broke the peace of the room and Naruto peered blearily over his shoulder to see a startled nurse standing there. She was holding a lunch tray and had probably been the one to draw the short straw at the nurse's station to bring the Kyuubi-brat his lunch. But to see the Hokage there, that she was clearly not expecting.

"Hokage-sama!" she sputtered and half-bowed. "I-I didn't expect to see you here."

"Hello," he nodded politely to the gray-haired woman. "You can leave that on the table."

The nurse immediately obeyed and started to leave, but hesitated at the doorway. "Is everything alright…with him." The forced concern in her voice was painfully obvious.

"I can handle it," his dad assured the woman and waved her away.

When the door clicked shut, Naruto sagged against his father's chest. "Can I go home now?" he whimpered.

"I'll see if I can pick you up tonight," his dad answered. "You're doing so much better, I can't imagine that Tsunade-sama will say no."

"Okay." He felt better knowing that his hospital stay was finally drawing to an end. "Do I have to eat that?" he muttered, glancing distastefully at the lunch tray across the room. "I'm not really hungry right now."

"You don't have to eat it right away, but I'd like you to eat at least half of it before you go running off to cause chaos in the halls. Can you do that for me?"

Naruto wrinkled his nose. "I guess."

"Good," he grinned. "Do you feel a bit better now?"

"Yeah," Naruto shrugged.

"Would it be alright if I left for a while? I need to interview Kiba today too."

Naruto swallowed a sigh and nodded, "Uh-huh."

"You sure?" his father asked.

"Yep." He wormed out of his dad's arms and crawled back onto the hospital bed and laid down, his back towards his father. "My head kinda hurts…I think I'll take a nap."

"Alright." His father stood up and patted his back. "I'll see you tonight."

"Bye," Naruto waved.

There was the sound of the door opening and closing and then he was alone.

Naruto lay on his side for a while, staring blankly at the yellow flower that Hinata had given him the day before. After a while he sat up and grabbed the lunch tray that the nurse had brought and half-heartedly picked at it. But he really just wasn't hungry.

_Why can't it be tonight already?_

* * *

Orochimaru was very displeased. He'd sacrificed a great deal—Jirobou, Kidoumaru, Tayuya, Sakon and Ukon, and Kimimaro—to acquire Uchiha Sasuke. And it had all been for nothing.

The Sharingan had almost been his. That most precious kekkei genkai—the ability to see through genjutsu like glass, to predict the moves of his opponent before they made them, to be able to copy any jutsu just by seeing it performed once. That power which he coveted most of all was torn back out of his grasp by a bunch of foolish Leaf genin.

Konoha always got in the way of his ambitions. First it was Sarutobi-sensei's denial of his great talent by handing the title of Hokage onto Jiraiya's student instead of him. Then there was his expulsion from the village due to a few little experiments that he'd been quietly conducting. And now the beautiful and recently endangered Sharingan was kept from his hands.

He hadn't needed Sasuke's body immediately. His darling Kabuto had been able to repair most of the damage that Minato had done to him during the failed Sand-Sound invasion of Konoha. But the sooner he could woo his desired vessel to his side, the better. And after the horrible disappointment of his little strike at his former home, it would've been nice to have a new apprentice…that would one day house his soul and prolong his life.

The Sannin critically studied his bandaged arms with a faint scowl. Minato had used his devastating speed to try and slay his foe, but only succeeded in maiming his arms. Kabuto had used his medical genius to save them, but they were covered in scars and didn't function as wall as they once had. And with Tsunade's refusal to use her greater medical skill to restore him, and Sasuke out of reach for the moment, he only had one option left.

"Kabuto," he purred in his low, silky voice. "Go through the test subjects and find me a suitable replacement vessel, would you?"

"Of course, Orochimaru-dono." Kabuto shoved his round glasses further up the bridge of his nose, and departed.

Orochimaru smiled and ran his long tongue over his lips in anticipation.

In the long run, it didn't matter that his invasion plans had gone awry and that he'd lost a good many ninja who'd joined his cause. It didn't matter that his "hidden village" was little more than a series of holes in the ground in various small countries that he bounced between to avoid being rooted out by other stronger ninja groups. With his kinjutsu to move his soul from body to body, he had all the time in the world to get it right…

* * *

Naruto wasn't terribly surprised when it was Kakashi-sensei who showed up to take him home. He was a little disappointed; his dad had been showing up so often that maybe he could pull it off one more time. But it seemed that Hokage business was running late again (like always) so it was one of his teachers to the rescue.

"You look much better, Naruto," Kakashi smiled…or at least it looked like he was smiling. It was hard to tell sometimes with the mask he always wore over most of his face.

"Thanks," Naruto sighed as he yanked a black T-shirt over his head. "I feel a lot better. They coulda let me out a couple days ago."

"I'm sure that they were just being careful," his teacher shrugged and pulled out his infamous orange book.

"Whatever," he snorted and fastened his zori sandals. "Now I can get back to training!"

Kakashi distractedly patted his head. "In a few days."

"Huh?" Naruto scrunched up his face in comical confusion as he pulled his backpack (which contained his worn pajamas and his torn up ninja clothes) over his shoulder.

"You may be released from the hospital, but you haven't been cleared for strenuous activity yet." Kakashi peered over his book with his one visible eye. "And with your training style, even light training is strenuous."

"Wah!" Naruto wailed and grasped at his hair. "How can I ever get to be Hokage if I can't train?!"

"Relax," Kakashi sighed. "I'm sure that it'll only be a few days, and you'll be out of the hospital."

"I'm going to be so bored," Naruto moaned and trudged over to retrieve his flower from the vase.

"Cheer up, think of it as a vacation!" Kakashi smiled. "I wouldn't mind getting some time off. I just got back from a mission and I'll probably leave tomorrow morning on another."

Naruto sagged. "I don't suppose that I could go with you."

"Nope." His sensei glanced up from his book curiously. "Who gave you that flower?"

"Hinata." Naruto walked over to the door of his room. "You don't have to walk me home. I know the way."

"It's no trouble." Kakashi shoved the door open and waved Naruto on ahead. "So Hyuuga Hinata gave you a flower, eh?"

"Yeah, so what?" Naruto squinted suspiciously at his teacher. "He made walking me home a mission, didn't he?"

"No, I'm doing this for free. Now what do you think of this girl?"

Naruto blinked. "Who?"

Kakashi shook his head and sighed. "Hinata, the girl we were just talking about."

"What about her?"

"What do you think about her?"

"She's really dark and timid and weird…but kinda nice." Naruto squinted at the setting sun as they walked out the front doors of the hospital.

"Oh?"

Naruto frowned warily at Kakashi's interested tone. "What?"

"How is she nice?"

"She's just a nice person," Naruto shrugged.

"But what makes you say that?" Kakashi pressed.

"She was nice to me." Naruto stopped walking and scowled at his teacher. "Kakashi-sensei, what's with all the weird—"

"Oh, hello Hinata," Kakashi greeted, looking off to the side and tucking his dirty book under one arm. "Good evening."

Naruto turned and found that Hinata was standing there, half-hidden by a telephone pole and looking very surprised to be noticed. "K-Kakashi-sensei," she half-bowed. "N-N-Naruto-kun. G-good e-evening."

"Hi Hinata!" Naruto cried. "What are you doing?"

She timidly shrank into the shadow of the pole. "W-w-well I-I w-was out f-for a w-walk and…and…"

Frustrated at her barely audible voice and eager to hear what she had to say, he scampered right up to her face and cupped his ear to hear her better. "What was that?"

The girl let out a startled squeak and stumbled backwards, her pale face flushing a fierce red. "N-N-Na—"

"Hey, are you okay?" He reached out and pressed his hand against her forehead to check for a fever. "Your face is really red. Do you have a fever?"

"I-I-I—" Her face was, if possible, getting even redder and she started to sway on her feet.

"Hey, Hinata! Are you ok—erk!" Naruto abruptly found himself yanked backwards by his shirt collar.

"Why don't you run along home, Hinata," Kakashi cheerfully suggested. "It's getting late."

The red-faced girl grasped the offered escape and bolted without another word.

"What was that for?!" Naruto howled and pulled his shirt free. "Why'd you send her away?"

"Does she always react that way when you talk?" Kakashi asked, an odd light in his eye.

"Yeah," Naruto scowled. _Not that we talk much…_

"Interesting." Kakashi tapped his masked chin thoughtfully before removing the orange book from under his arm and holding it out to Naruto. "Don't let your dad catch with this, and if he does I didn't give to you…but you're going to need it."

Naruto flinched away from the orange cover like it was diseased. "Kyah! Keep your porn to yourself, sensei! I'm twelve, I don't need it!"

"Suit yourself," Kakashi sighed and opened the book to where he'd left off. "If you ever want to borrow it, come see me."

"Bleah!" Naruto shuddered and stalked off towards his house. "You're such a pervert, sensei!"

Kakashi just chuckled at him. Then he giggled at some particularly juicy part of his book. Naruto shivered, scowled, and marched a bit faster.

_Why me?_ Naruto sighed. _Kakashi-sensei's such a perv, reading that stuff in front of us like that… And Ero-Sennin's even worse, he __**writes**__ that stuff! …At least dad's not really into that._

Just as he and his teacher reached the entrance to his neighborhood, they came across Sakura heading home. She'd apparently been to the library as her arms were overloaded with thick, heavy books. Naruto perked up at the sight of his pink-haired kunoichi teammate, but didn't expect much. She'd been so spacey lately, and with her precious Sasuke-kun's fate still undetermined her mind was always stuck on him and not Naruto.

"Sakura-chan!" he cried and waved enthusiastically. "Sakura-chan, hi!"

She paused in her labored shuffle and looked in Naruto's direction. "Naruto? They let you out?"

"Uh-huh." He skittered up to her and studied the pile of books in her arms. The long, complicated titles made his head hurt just looking at them. "What's with all this?"

"I need it to study," she informed him. "Hi, Kakashi-sensei." She would've waved at the teacher, but her hands were very full.

"Good evening, Sakura," Kakashi waved, his eye still on his book.

"Study for what?" Naruto frowned. Then he felt a surge of panic. "Don't tell me that we have a test coming up!"

"No," she snorted. "Tsunade-shisou took me on as an apprentice. I'm studying to be a medic like her."

"Oh, that's so cool!" Naruto gushed. "You're so smart; you'll do awesome Sakura-chan!"

"Thanks," she grunted and shifted the books she was holding a little. "I have to get this stuff home before my arms fall off." The girl started to walk off. "See you later, and take care of yourself!"

"Bye-bye, Sakura-chan!" Naruto waved energetically at her retreating form.

"Bye!" Kakashi added.

And then she was gone.

Naruto bounced with excitement as he continued his trek home. "That's so cool that Tsunade-baa-chan's going to teach Sakura-chan medic stuff. Our team's going to be so much more awesome now!"

"In time, yes," Kakashi agreed. "But it will take a lot of study and practice for her training to start paying off. Being a medical ninja is one of the most demanding specialties, especially in the area of knowledge."

The genin deflated slightly, "Oh."

Another damper on his spirits was Sasuke. Without him, their team was one man short. And now that Sakura was going to undergo special medic training, the team was depleted further. With Kakashi in high demand for A and S-class missions—missions that were too dangerous for genin to tag-along on—Naruto was rather alone.

"Hey, sensei," Naruto frowned as they drew near his front door. "When I'm clear to go on missions again, what'll I do?"

"What do you mean?" Kakashi asked and opened the door for him.

Naruto yanked off his sandals and walked inside, depositing his shoes on the little shelf by the door. "Well Sakura-chan's probably going to be busy a lot, and you're busy a lot, and…Sasuke's in trouble…"

"Jiraiya-sama will work with you when I can't," Kakashi answered as he removed his own sandals. "And you'll probably be tacked onto some of your friends' teams as a substitute or extra member for missions." He closed the door and headed for the kitchen, his nose still in his book. "As far as the next Chuunin Exams go, if you sign up for them and Sakura doesn't, you'll probably be lumped with Ino and Chouji…if he's recovered in time."

"The next Chuunin Exams?" Naruto frowned, ditching his bag at the foot of the upstairs with the intent of carrying it up to his room later, and then chasing after his teacher. _I hadn't thought that far ahead…_

"The Chuunin Exams are held every six months or so, remember? With all the chaos recently with the Sand-Sound incident, the next exam was pushed back a few months…and if I remember right, the Land of Lightning is hosting the next exam." Kakashi set aside his book briefly to dig around in the fridge. "Looks like you need to go shopping, there isn't much in here."

Naruto rolled his eyes and climbed on a counter to peer into the cabinets for instant ramen cups. Selecting a few chicken and beef cups, he started to prepare them. As he was filling the first cup with water, he wondered…

"Kakashi-sensei, do I have to sign up for the next exam?"

Kakashi pulled his head out of the fridge. "Why wouldn't you want to? You did so well last time."

"It just doesn't feel right," Naruto pouted as he waited for the water to boil. "To enter with some other team."

"Naruto, it's very rare for a ninja to stay with their starting genin team throughout the entirety of their career. Unfortunately, teams don't last forever. But at least you have a good chance of working with people you know and get along with." Kakashi patted him on the head as he exited the kitchen with some leftover takeout. "Think of it as broadening your horizons. With different teams the variety of missions you go on will increase."

"I guess," Naruto shrugged and stirred up his instant ramen.

"Don't worry about it now," Kakashi called from another room, and there was the faint sound of the TV turning on. "You have time. Enjoy your days off!"

Naruto just sighed and devoured his instant ramen dinner. _I wanna be a chuunin and all… But I don't wanna do it without Sakura-chan and Sasuke-teme…_


	8. Detective Shikamaru

**Chapter 7**_  
Detective Shikamaru_

Shikamaru laid back on the bench on top of the roof near the middle of town—his favorite cloud-watching spot—and sighed. Any day now he expected to be summoned for a new mission. The burn on his forearm was completely healed and his broken pinky was only a bit stiff. He intended to take advantage of his remaining free time (it was bound to run out soon), but unfortunately his mind was bothered with troublesome thoughts.

_This is such a drag. I can't even enjoy the clouds today. How troublesome._

He ran a hand over the drab green canvas of his armored vest, still not used to wearing the new mark of rank, and sighed again.

_Naruto really is the number-one unpredictable ninja. At first glance you'd think that he's an open book. But he's way more complex than that…_

Earlier in the day, when he'd been training with his father, he'd casually asked about his classmate. He wanted his father's opinion and hoped to pry loose some information that would explain some things. The response he got was…interesting.

_"Hey, Oyaji, you know Naruto, right?"_

_"…I know of him."_

_"Do you know anything of his family? I never remembered meeting any of his relatives."_

_"Can't say that I do. Why the interest?"_

_"When I went to recruit Naruto for the mission, I was rather surprised to see where he lived, and it made me realize that I really don't know much about him outside of the Academy."_

_"Hmm… Well I can't help you. That boy is so troublesome…"_

And that had been the end of it. Shikamaru had tried to edge in a few more questions, but his father had ended their practice and ditched him without answering. His father's opinion had been expected—Nara men tended to find just about anything or anyone "troublesome" to some degree—but it was his father's demeanor during their conversation that had him thinking.

_He was nervous. He didn't want to talk about Naruto at all. Oyaji knows a lot more than he told me; I'm sure of it. So why not tell me? I'm not a little kid anymore…_

After that, his mother had nagged him to do errands for her. While he was out and about he casually asked around about his old classmate. Surprisingly, everybody seemed to know of him, and their reactions had been even more interesting than his dad's.

In general, all the reactions were negative. Some people got strange looks on their face—some kind of anger, or fear, or hate, or some ugly mixture of the three. Most refused to speak of him; the few who did said some rather odd things.

_"Steer clear of that one. He'll bring you nothing but trouble."_

_"Why would you ever want to know about that…that…__**boy**__?!"_

_"Don't you be asking questions about that disgrace."_

_"That wretched monster—!"_

That last comment had been from the kindly bookstore owner, who had always seemed calm and kind when he'd picked up things for his mother before. He'd never seen the man rage like that in the past. And before he could finish his sentence, his wife shut him up, looking terrified, whispering: _"Dear, we can't speak of that, it's forbidden!"_

His intent in asking around about the energetic young shinobi had been to try and uncover evidence that supported his strong suspicion that Naruto was the hidden son of the Hokage. But it seemed that he'd stumbled over some mysterious and rather sinister secret concerning his comrade; something all the adults appeared to know. It was more than a little disturbing.

_They all seemed afraid and angry. I can't think of anything that Naruto could've done to give him such a reputation. Not unless one of his pranks killed someone…but I'd have heard of that. What about him is so dangerous that it's forbidden to speak of it?_

The Nara boy groaned in frustration. Nothing made sense! The way everyone acted, it was like he was someone terrible and dangerous. Yet Naruto seemed like any other kid back in the Academy. If he was really so dangerous, he should've been locked up, but he walked around the village like any other boy.

Sorting through his memories in an attempt to find anything to explain the villagers' strange attitude, something Naruto had said once came back to him. It had been the day before the final round of the Chuunin Exams, when they'd interrupted Gaara's attempt to murder Rock Lee in the hospital. Shikamaru hadn't thought much of it at the time as his mind was fully focused on preserving Lee's life while not getting himself and Naruto killed. Naruto had been his usual loud, hot-headed, idiot self—and that hadn't helped any…

_"He can't kill me!"_ he'd said then, as he stared down Gaara confidently._ "I have a real monster inside me. I won't lose to him."_

Then Gaara had gone and told them the story of his life and why he was the way that he was. It was a real horror story, involving assassination attempts, wanton murder, and a sand demon named Shukaku. Gai-sensei had appeared shortly afterwards, causing Gaara to slink away, and that had been the end of that little nightmare. But Gaara's story had really seemed to make an impact on Naruto—the loud-mouth had appeared doubly wary and fearful of the foreign red-head after that.

_What exactly did he mean by that?_ Shikamaru wondered. _The man from the bookstore called him a monster…so is that the secret? …And Naruto knows._

_This is so troublesome._

* * *

Naruto sat on the living room couch and sulked. He wasn't allowed to train for three whole days. He didn't see why; he felt fine!

But his dad seemed to be rather firm on that time frame. When he'd woken up, there was a note telling him to take it easy for three days and a tracking seal painted on his right wrist. Naruto was sure that if he tried to sneak off to the training grounds the seal would go off and he'd get in trouble.

_Tagging me while I was asleep…very sneaky, Dad._ Naruto scowled at the black markings inked on the inside of his wrist. _Too bad I can't just wash it off…_

So far he'd tried to entertain himself with reading manga and playing video games. However, he'd read all his manga and hadn't bought any new volumes in a while, and he'd never been good at video games as he had little times to practice. Being a ninja was more important than keeping up with the latest manga or getting the high score in some game.

_What am I supposed to do?_ Naruto groaned. He glared down at the seal on his wrist. _If only I could get this off my arm…_

His father was a master of seals. There had to be some books on seals somewhere in the house. If he could find those books then maybe he could find a way to remove the seal himself—

The door chime interrupted his chain of thought.

No one rang the doorbell. No one ever bothered the Hokage at his private residence. So who was at the door?

Wary but very curious, Naruto scampered over to the door and cracked it open a few inches. On the other side he found Shikamaru and Ino. For a minute, Naruto got excited.

"Shikamaru! Are you putting together another team?"

"No." Shikamaru squinted at him. "Are you cleared for active duty yet?"

Naruto pouted. "Well…no." His pout shifted into a confused frown. "If you're not here for a mission…then why _are _you here? And what about you, Ino?"

"Huh?" the blonde girl blinked. "You say something?"

"I came here to see if I could teach you some shogi," Shikamaru answered. "Ino spotted me on the street and decided to follow me."

"Oh."

"You live here, Naruto?" Ino asked, wide-eyed.

"Uh…yeah." Naruto scratched at the back of his head.

"Wow!" Her pale blue eyes lit up. "You must be rich!"

"…Not really." Naruto edged out of the door and shut it behind him. "I never got much allowance, and now that I'm a ninja I don't get any."

Ino rolled her eyes. "I didn't mean just you, I meant your family. I mean, look at this house! It's huge! And to live in this neighborhood…" She squinted at him. "With the way that you dress in that nasty orange outfit all the time I thought that you were poor."

"Hey, don't diss the orange!" Naruto scowled.

"Why shouldn't I?" Ino sniffed. "That outfit is ugly—it practically glows in the dark!"

"It's not suitable for the shinobi lifestyle," Shikamaru sighed wearily. "Wearing that much orange makes you a target."

"Shikamaru!" Naruto wailed. "Not you, too!"

"You don't have to give up the color completely," Shikamaru muttered. "But it would make you a better shinobi if you wore less of it… A lot less of it."

Naruto glowered at the both of them. "Don't. Diss. The orange!"

"How can your mother let you outside in those clothes?" Ino snorted.

The spiky-haired blonde stared at her blankly for a minute. "My mom's dead, Ino."

"Oh." Ino squirmed awkwardly. "I-I'm sorry. I didn't know."

"Eh," Naruto shrugged, unsure of what to say in reply.

Sure he missed having a mom. It would really be nice if she hadn't died; he was sure that his dad would be a lot happier if she was still around. But he'd never known her, so her loss—her complete absence in his life—had never been personal. Not like how it was for his dad.

"Well…well what about your dad?" Ino demanded, seemingly determined to assault his wardrobe. "I know that men are generally less fashion-conscious than women, but surely even he knows better than to let you run around in that…that…orange abomination!"

"Hey! I like my clothes!" Naruto shouted, thoroughly offended. "I'm sure my dad something once or twice, but I don't remember." He screwed his face up in a scowl. "My clothes are fine!"

"Oh?"

Naruto jumped and turned to find to his dad standing not two feet away, leaning against the house, and looking rather amused. Ino squeaked in surprise and even Shikamaru jerked a little at the sudden arrival. But then again, he _was_ the Hokage, the best ninja in the whole village. He could be more than sneaky enough to surprise a chuunin and a pair of genin.

"How long have you been standing there, Jiji?"

"Not long," his dad replied, eyes glittering with thinly veiled amusement. "You know, seeing as you can't train, now would be a good time to replenish your supplies…and replace ruined clothing. You know, your jacket doesn't look so good…"

"I don't wanna go shopping!" Naruto wailed, flailing his arms.

His dad merely arched an eyebrow at him.

"I hate shopping for clothes," the boy sulked.

"Perhaps if you ask her nicely, Ino will help you," his father cheerfully suggested.

"I'd be happy to help Naruto, Hokage-sama!" Ino chirped happily.

Naruto shivered at the almost predatory look in Ino's eyes. "Th-that's okay Ino, I'll get Sakura-chan to help me…"

"Please!" Ino snorted. "Forehead-girl's practically moved into the library the past few days. She's too busy studying to help you! I, on the other hand, am free to assist you." The Yamanaka girl snagged his arm and started to pull him off his porch. "C'mon Naruto, let's hit the stores!"

"But I don't have my sandals on!" Naruto protested desperately. "And I don't have my wallet!"

His traitorous father handed him his zori sandals and pressed a wad of bills into his hand. "You can pay me back later. Have fun now!"

"Jiji!" Naruto screeched as Ino gleefully dragged him along while he stumblingly tried to yank on his sandals and escape at the same time. "Save me!"

The Hokage simply waved at him as he was dragged away.

"Shikamaru?" Naruto pleaded, looking to his chuunin classmate for possible salvation.

Said chuunin simply shook his head and didn't interfere, but he did follow along.

_Man!_ Naruto sighed. _Today just plain sucks!_

* * *

A little over a half an hour later, Naruto found himself trapped in one of the clothing stores that specialized in ninja apparel with Ino crafting outfit after outfit for him, and Shikamaru watching his agony with a bored expression on his lazy face. Normally Naruto would never have been in this store—the owner hated him and had chased him out several times in the past. But because Ino and Shikamaru with were him—future heirs of important ninja clans and respected patrons—he'd been let in. But the shopkeeper kept one angry eye on him at all times.

He supposed that the clothes that Ino was picking out were okay…but he didn't like them. Firstly, she'd dissed the color orange, so he was suspicious of anything she suggested to him. And secondly, there was no orange at all in her suggestions. Shikamaru had said he could have a little orange in his clothes, so he was going to have orange in his clothes!

"You have no taste at all!" Ino hissed as she stormed off to try and find some clothes that he'd accept. "Idiot!"

"Do you think she'll give up soon?" Naruto whispered to Shikamaru hopefully.

"Has she ever given up her silly competition with Sakura over Sasuke?" Shikamaru sighed tiredly.

Naruto groaned. "I'm doomed."

"Just pick something so you can get out of here," Shikamaru suggested.

"I don't wanna waste my money on clothes that I'm not going to wear!" Naruto protested.

"It's the Hokage's money," Shikamaru pointed out.

"I still have to pay him back!" Naruto huffed.

"Troublesome," Shikamaru muttered.

"You said it," Naruto scowled.

"N-N-Naruto-kun?"

The whisker-marked boy turned to find Hinata peeking around a rack of coats at him. Apparently she was shopping, too—there were a couple of dull tan, water-resistant, hooded cloaks draped over her arms. She was so surprised to see him that she was actually looking him in the eye, not staring at some point on the ground near his feet.

"Hi Hinata!" Naruto grinned. "Hey!" he leaned in, excited. "You think you can help sneak me out of here without Ino seeing?"

"I-Ino-san?" Hinata blinked her pale violet eyes in puzzlement.

"Hey, Hinata!" Ino cheered, materializing at the Hyuuga girl's shoulder. "Help me out here, I'm trying to get this idiot to dress sensibly!"

"W-w-wha—"

"What's wrong with the color orange?!" Naruto seethed loudly.

"It's the opposite of good camouflage!" Ino screeched. "Ninjas wear dark colors, neutral colors, green or brown or gray or camouflage-patterned! Ninjas don't wear bright orange!"

"I do!" Naruto declared proudly. "And I'm a ninja!"

"Really?" Ino drawled sarcastically.

Naruto puffed himself up and shot Ino a nasty glare. "Hey!"

"U-um…um…" Hinata trailed off nervously before dumping her armload of ninja cloaks near Shikamaru and scampering off into the racks of clothing.

Still scowling at Ino, Naruto rested his shoulder against a nearby wall and waited to see what Hinata would suggest. He was a little bit hopeful—Hinata wasn't like the other girls he knew. Perhaps she'd come up with something cool to wear…

Some minutes later she shuffled up to him and offered up her choices, her eyes fixed timidly on the floor. She'd selected a pair of khaki pants with darker patches of extra fabric on the knees and cargo pockets to store extra things like smoke bombs or flash grenades or whatever, a black coat with dull red flame patterns trimming the bottom (almost like on his dad's Hokage jacket) and the fat red spiral common on shinobi uniforms in the Land of Fire, a plain T-shirt, and a pair of black fingerless gloves with metal plates on the backs.

But what really caught his eye was the T-shirt. It was plain…but it was _orange_. Not the bright orange of his current outfit, it was more like the dull orange of autumn leaves. It wasn't what he preferred, but it was an acceptable shade. Seeing that shirt was a major plus for the whole outfit, and it impressed him enough for him to actually go and try it on.

_This…really isn't that bad,_ he mused as he eyed his reflection in the changing room mirror. _…I like it!_ Grinning broadly, he dashed out and displayed himself for Ino's inspection.

"That'll work," Ino declared after circling him a few times. "Now you really look like a ninja!"

"I _already_ looked like a ninja!" Naruto pouted, before flashing Hinata a smile. "Thanks a lot, Hinata!"

The girl immediately ducked her head and fiddled nervously with her fingers and mumbled something too quiet for him to make out.

Shortly after that, Naruto had picked up a second coat, a few more pairs of pants, another pair of fingerless gloves, and several more of the orange T-shirts, and carried his purchases to the front counter. He wasn't the best at math so he'd had Shikamaru double check for him to make sure that his dad had given him enough money. But as the sour-faced shopkeeper rang up the price, Naruto's secret fear was realized.

He'd been overcharged again. The price on the register was easily double what he should've been charged. The gray-haired man behind the counter smirked victoriously at Naruto's visible dismay.

"Sir, you seem to have entered the wrong prices," Shikamaru observed.

"Those items were mismarked," the shopkeeper replied almost smugly.

"What?!" Ino exploded.

"A-all those j-jackets, and s-shirts, and pants, and g-gloves are mismarked?" Hinata frowned, clearly baffled. "H-how c-could that happen?"

"My nephew is inept at restocking the racks," the owner answered calmly. "Now _boy_ why don't you put some of that back and make sure that next time you can afford what you want to buy. Perhaps Hiiro's shop down the street would better serve you, his goods are much cheaper."

Naruto felt everything sink and he wearily started to sort through the pile of clothes to see what to put back on the racks and took some relief in that he'd actually get to buy some of it.

"Troublesome," Shikamaru growled. "If the prices are going to be so unreliable, I don't think I can shop here anymore. I should probably warn my family, too. What a drag."

"I've shopped here for years and never had such problems!" Ino almost shouted. "What terrible service! No way all those items were mis-priced! I'm not shopping here ever again, and I'm telling everyone I know about this!"

Hinata, who had been next in line to buy those cloaks, shuffled nervously for a bit, then spoke up in the brief silence that followed Ino's threat. "I s-should put these b-back. Th-the price might be w-wrong, and I d-didn't bring much extra money with m-me. I-I'll just find another store." She started off to replace the merchandise. "A-and I should warn my clan a-about this p-p-problem…t-too."

Naruto gaped at them all. What were they doing?! Didn't they know that this was what always happened—

Of course they didn't know. He was overcharged because of the Kyuubi, and they didn't know about that. If they knew, they wouldn't stick up for him this way…

"Wait!" the shopkeeper snapped. "Wait… I'll honor whatever price is on the tags today, and I'll straighten out my idiot nephew to prevent this from happening in the future. I'm terribly sorry for this misunderstanding."

"You'd better be sorry," Ino growled under her breath as Hinata returned to her place in line.

"How troublesome," Shikamaru groused.

Naruto just mutely handed over the proper sum of money, too stunned to have anything to say.

"What a jerk!" Ino seethed as they stepped out of the shop, Hinata scrambling after them with her own shopping bag in tow. "I've never seen that man so rude! Did you pull a prank on that man while you were in the Academy or something?"

"No," Naruto shrugged. "Not that I remember. He must've heard about me from someone else."

"Hmph!" Ino sniffed. "I'm still telling everybody about what happened in there."

Naruto sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. "You don't have to…"

"Oh but I do!" Ino cackled. "It's great gossip!"

"Of course," Shikamaru sighed.

"Heh." Naruto glanced over at Hinata and smiled cheerfully. "Hey Hinata, thanks again for helping me with the shopping. You picked out some awesome stuff for me!"

"Y-y-you're w-welcome!" she squeaked and darted off in another direction, presumably towards home. "Bye!"

"Bye-bye!" he waved and almost lost his grip on his bags.

"Well, now that you have the attire of a proper ninja, I need to get back to my family's shop," Ino announced. "See you later, Naruto!"

"I should get home, too," Shikamaru grumbled. "I have some chores I need to get to."

"Bye guys!" Naruto waved again, and did drop a bag this time.

Once they were out of sight, he gathered up his new clothes and started slogging for home. _That actually turned out okay,_ Naruto reflected. _Good thing Hinata showed up and found me some good clothes. She respects the orange!_

* * *

Shikamaru frowned in thought as he walked along the fences in the Nara clan's patch of forest where they raised their deer and checked for damage. Ino's appearance had thwarted his plans to get Naruto alone and talk about what he'd said to Gaara in the hospital months ago. But he'd still managed to glean some interesting information nonetheless.

_I'm almost certain that the Hokage is Naruto's father, or at the very least his legal guardian. I don't see why else he'd show up on Naruto's porch around noon unless it was his house too and he was stopping by for some lunch. And the way that he trapped Naruto into Ino's shopping trip and gave him his shoes and lent him money… That whole interaction is one that could be expected of a father and son._

His frown deepened as his mind shifted to his other line of thought concerning Naruto.

_Bad-mouthing him is one thing, but that shop owner deliberately overcharged him. He didn't even want to let him in the store; if Ino and I weren't with him, he might not have gotten in. And the way Naruto reacted… No loud protesting, just resignation, like he expected it to happen._

_This sort of treatment has happened to him before._

He paused and tested a fence post.

_I'm going to need some help with this…_


	9. The Fox's New Clothes

**Chapter 8**_  
The Fox's New Clothes_

Shikamaru sighed in annoyance. Just as he'd been getting into his informal investigation he'd pulled another mission. Thankfully he wasn't the captain this time – honestly, he wasn't ready to lead again so soon after his previous command – but he was stuck working with other, older chuunin that he didn't know. The mission seemed fairly simple and probably wouldn't take more than a few days, but it would still be a real drag.

_Looks like I'll have to wait until I get back to start spreading my net._ The Nara sighed and struck out to the village gates where he'd rendezvous with the rest of his team. _Troublesome…_

* * *

Naruto held up the torn and stained remains of his old jacket and shivered. The hole in the shoulder – front and back – was clearly defined, revealing the path that Sasuke's lightning-shrouded fist had taken. He didn't like looking at it at all.

Gritting his teeth, he removed the clan symbol from the shoulder before shoving the bright orange and blue coat into the garbage can. Then he picked up one of his two new coats, a heavy needle and thread, and got to sewing. He was really bad at it, but all the stitches would be on the inside, and he needed his clan patch on his new coat.

It had been his mother's. When he'd first enrolled in the Academy at age six his dad had given it to him for his birthday. If he thought hard enough, he could still remember his father handing him the small flat box that contained the patch of the Uzumaki clan. The pristine white spiral mounted on a thick leather backing that had a white cord and wooden white-and-red whistle hanging from it had puzzled him. But when his father had informed him that it represented the name "Uzumaki" and had belonged to his mother, it became really cool. And when he'd first found his signature orange jacket, he'd tacked it on the shoulder and that had been that.

Once he was satisfied that it was properly attached, he cheerfully yanked his new coat on over his new awesome T-shirt, rolled up the sleeves a bit, and admired himself in the mirror in his dad's bedroom. He had his new pants on, too; and his new fingerless gloves were tucked in a jacket pocket. Naruto turned around a few times, did a few poses, and grinned hugely.

"I rock!" he laughed loudly, pumping fist.

The young ninja was about to run off and finish putting on his gear, but then he remembered that he _still_ wasn't allowed to train. There were still two full days to survive before he got to do anything. That managed to deflate his good mood…for about five minutes.

"What to do, what to do…" he muttered to himself as he wandered through his large, empty house. "I've already paid Jiji back…" (He'd left the money that his father had lent him the previous day on his nightstand for the Hokage to find in the morning). "I got new sandals to go with my new clothes…" (Before dinner the previous day he'd swung by the shoe store and picked up black zori sandals as his old ones had been feeling tight and their bright blue color didn't fit with his new ninja wardrobe). "Um…I could pick up some new manga…"

"Groceries!" he said suddenly, pounding a fist into his other palm. "The fridge and pantry are almost empty…and we're almost out of cup ramen!"

Darting down to the kitchen, he hopped up onto the counter to grope around on top of the refrigerator for an envelope. His dad rarely got around to grocery shopping, especially now that Naruto was old enough to do it himself, but he always left money for his son to use. However, sometimes he forgot to refill the envelope with Ryo…

"Empty!" Naruto sulked. "Damn it!" His sulk lasted only a few minutes, though. "I guess I'll just have to go to the office!"

Racing to the front door, he barely paused to yank his new sandals on, then sprinted out the door in the direction of the Hokage Tower. He bounded over rooftops even though he really wasn't supposed to. He wasn't wearing any of his ninja gear or his hitae-ate, so he wasn't on duty, and as he wasn't on duty he really shouldn't be traveling by roof. But he loved getting around that way and he had energy to burn.

Whooping like a maniac, Naruto dropped from the last rooftop and lunged through the front doors of the tower—and stopped short when someone snagged the back of his new coat.

"Just where do you think you're going?"

Naruto looked up, blinked a few times, and scowled when he recognized the mask of the ANBU who'd halted his flight. "Yamato, let go of my coat! I need to go get grocery money from Jiji."

"Naruto?" The porcelain cat mask tilted quizzically, and then the ANBU released him. "Nice coat."

"Thanks!" Naruto grinned, indignation forgotten. He carefully smoothed out his new jacket and turning so that one of his favorite ANBU minders could get a better look at it. "Hinata picked it out for me. Cool, huh?"

"The coat of a future Hokage," Yamato agreed gravely. "Hyuuga Hinata helped you?"

"Yeah," Naruto beamed.

"I need to let Kakashi-sempai know about this," Yamato muttered to himself thoughtfully.

Naruto squinted. "Huh?"

"Hokage-sama is just about done handing out the day's missions," Yamato informed him. "So long as you don't interrupt a briefing, you should be able to get your grocery money."

"Great!" Naruto waved and scampered deeper into the tower. "See ya, Yamato!"

The Hokage Tower was almost like a second home to Naruto. When he'd been small, his dad would take him to the office all the time. There were even a few pictures laying around somewhere of him as a toddler sitting in his dad's lap and "helping" him rubber-stamp the Hokage seal on various documents. He knew the ins and outs of the tower complex far better than any kid his age—and many adults, too. He'd even found ways into some of the restricted zones when he'd gotten bored enough.

Weaving around other shinobi and speeding down hallways, he paused only when he reached his father's office door. There he waited and listened to see if anyone was in there with him. When he heard nothing, he cracked open the door, saw his father was indeed alone, and then slipped inside.

His dad sat in his swivel chair and stared pensively out his half-circle of office windows. Naruto almost wondered if he should bother him or not. But the house was rather bare of food, and money was required to get more food, and to get money the Hokage had to be bothered.

"Hokage-jiji!"

The Hokage turned his chair back around, opened his mouth to say something, and then did a double take. "So, you actually bought some new clothes! When I saw all that money left on my nightstand I thought that you hadn't picked out anything."

"I was paying you back," Naruto replied. "You told me to."

"Yes, I did say that, didn't I?" His dad eyed him up and down. "Very nice. Young Ino has good taste."

Naruto made a face. "Ino didn't pick this out, Hinata did!"

"Oh?" he raised an eyebrow. "Did you thank her?"

"Of course!" Naruto huffed. "She picked out some awesome stuff!" The boy pulled out the fingerless gloves from his pockets and yanked them on. "I've even got gloves now!"

"Very nice," he nodded in approval. "Did you come by to show off your new clothes?"

"Uh…no," Naruto frowned as he recalled the purpose of his visit. He reached into his other pocket and retrieved the empty money envelope. "There's no grocery money!"

"Oh?" His father dug out his wallet and started counting out some Ryo notes. "That money never seems to last as long as I think it will." He hesitated before handing the cash over. "Are you sure you're not using some of that to buy yourself candy?"

"No!" Naruto protested, biting his tongue on the real reason. _They always overcharge me on everything but cup ramen…_

The only way to stop the overcharging was if his dad (or some other important adult) went with him. His dad was a busy man and it was silly and impractical for him to always come along on shopping trips to intimidate shop owners. Naruto was a real ninja now, technically an adult, and he would find ways to handle it himself, even if he had to make up the difference in the overcharging with his own hard-won mission pay.

"Alright," and the money changed hands. "Why don't you buy yourself some Pocky this time?"

Naruto shrugged cheerfully and waved as he darted out of the office. "See ya later, Jiji!"

_No way I can get Pocky—it's candy and they'll probably charge me ten times what it's really worth…_

* * *

Naruto had swung by his room to pick up his own wallet before hitting the grocery store. The money his dad set aside for groceries was never enough to cover the inflated prices he had to pay so he always had to sacrifice some of his hard-earned cash. Hopefully it wouldn't be too bad this time as he'd spent a good chunk of his personal funds on his new clothes.

The grocery store he frequented was one of the largest in the village so it boasted multiple cashiers and gave him a chance to pick one that might not hate him as much or raise the prices too high. There was also a greater selection to pick from—especially the clearance items where he usually shopped. And of course there were several different flavors of dirt-cheap cup ramen on hand.

He crept into the store, careful not to draw attention to himself, and snagged a plastic basket to fill with goods. Following his usual procedures, he picked up the most expensive items first: bread, milk, and eggs. There was no way he'd pick up those things on clearance; he didn't want to make his dad sick with food poisoning, and he didn't enjoy suffering the runs himself. After that he went for whatever was canned or dry on clearance. And finally he loaded up on ramen cups.

And then it was off to play cashier roulette. He studied each open check-out lane, seeking a very young cashier or one who looked foreign. If he got lucky he wouldn't get overcharged a cent. But today was not his lucky day—all the store employees were older and clearly long-time residents of the village.

Naruto sighed and settled for the lane with the shortest line. As he placed his groceries on the conveyer his heart sank further and further. His wallet was going to be hurting after this. He'd have to beg his dad for a slew of D-ranks to replenish his stash of Ryo…

When the final price was rung up on the register, he was startled. It was too low! He blinked in confusion and stared at the old lady at the resister, speechless.

"Hurry up and pay so I can get to the next customer!" the crusty woman demanded.

"S-sorry," he stammered and fumbled to obey.

"And wash that marker off your face, boy!" she grunted. "People might mistake you for that orange-coated delinquent."

Naruto froze for a moment. _What?_ "Yes ma'am, sorry ma'am."

"Hmph!" she sniffed, took his money, handed him his change and receipt, and waved him off with a warning look.

He almost ran out of the store, just in case the old bat realized her mistake. But the jug of milk was a little heavy and awkward to carry and the eggs were breakable so he didn't run. He quickly, but carefully, walked outside and headed towards home.

_What the hell?! She thought I wasn't me? Why—?_

He frowned. "My clothes…"

_I'm not wearing my usual orange…so she thought that my whisker-marks were black marker?_

Before he'd known about his connection to the fox and the source of his facial markings, he'd never realized what had highlighted him to all the hating villagers or thought much about the whiskers period. He'd always had the marks on his cheeks and few people ever specifically mentioned them for any reason. It had never occurred to him to try and cover them up or disguise them in any way.

_I could use a _henge_ to hide them…just change my face a little. But…that would be hard to hold for long periods. If I get distracted it could fall and then I'd get in real trouble…_

"I'll have to think about this," he muttered and rubbed at his cheek before shifting his grip on his groceries and continuing on his trek home…


	10. Judgment

**Chapter 9**  
_Judgment_

Minato sat straight and still at the elevated "head" of the long, half-circle table in the village council audience chamber. At his right hand sat Mitokado Homura, an old, bespectacled man who had once been a good friend and adviser to the Sandaime Hokage. At his left had sat Utatane Koharu, an old woman who had much the same credentials as Homura. With Danzou, who sat beside Homura, they formed the senior members of the village council and top advisors of the Hokage.

They were wise and experienced and commanded a great deal of respect. Unfortunately, they were also old and increasingly inflexible and pessimistic. They frowned on Minato's youth (Danzou more openly than the other two) and were skeptical of many of his decisions. And they formed Naruto's most powerful and stubborn enemies. They held very little faith that Naruto had the demon under control and would keep it under control. Danzou wanted Naruto for a weapon. Homura and Koharu were more of the opinion that he should've simply been killed.

But, for all his power and prestige as Hokage, he couldn't get rid of any of them. Unless they voluntarily stepped down or died, he was stuck with them. Minato's only consolation was that they were the only elders on the council. The elder members that had once represented the other major ninja clans had either stepped down or died, handing their power on to their heirs.

Filling the remaining seats of the half-circle were the rest of the clan representatives of the village council. Tsunade of the Sannin now filled the seat of the Senju clan and although she was the next oldest member after the elders, she was far less hidebound than they were and she was an ally of Naruto's, not an enemy. The rest of the representatives—Shikaku (Nara clan), Inoichi (Yamanaka clan), Chouza (Akimichi clan), Tsume and Kuromaru (Inuzuka clan), Shibi (Aburame clan), and Hiashi (Hyuuga clan)—were of Minato's generation and were generally supportive of what he tried to do.

Normally this group of people met only once a month, and even then it was rare that they were _all_ present at the same time. But it wasn't the designated monthly meeting, and all were there. This meant only one thing: Uchiha Sasuke was being sentenced.

The sentencing of an attempted deserter and village traitor generally didn't call for a meeting of the village elite. Under normal circumstances, the delinquent ninja faced a review board and the Hokage (or a personally chosen substitute), the punishment was determined and carried out, and that was that. But Sasuke, as the sole survivor of a clan that had possessed a precious kekkei genkai, was getting special treatment…again.

The Uchiha clan had held a special place in the collective heart of Konoha. They had headed and primarily made up the Military Police—the basic security force of the village. While most other ninja tended to find the Uchiha arrogant, the civilians loved them, saw them as protectors. When they were massacred, the village suddenly seemed less safe and the village mourned them. And Sasuke, as the sole survivor, and an adorable child, who had seen the carnage and was now an orphan, was incredibly sympathetic.

The village embraced him and loved him. They reduced prices for him, even gave him things for free, and sang his praises. In their eyes, the boy could do no wrong, because he was Uchiha and the hope for reviving the great clan. It didn't matter to them that Sasuke largely rejected or sneered at them and held himself aloof from everyone. They simply wrote his behavior off as that of a troubled boy who had been so traumatically orphaned. He could easily be forgiven for that…and just about anything else questionable that he did.

If anything severe was done to Sasuke in punishment for his current transgressions, a large portion of the village would be up in arms. It was further complicated by Naruto's involvement in the retrieval mission—there would be little sympathy for the "_bakemono's_" injuries. But Sasuke had to be punished somehow, and the civilians weren't the only complicating factor.

As the only hope for reviving the Uchiha clan, and it's powerful kekkei genkai, Sasuke was a special case in the minds of most ninja. The ninja clans, too, were highly sympathetic to the boy's traumatic history. And they were willing to overlook certain things in order to keep Sasuke loyal, happy (or as happy as he could be), and get him ready to make new little Uchiha's when he was old enough.

But at least several of the clans had reason to be very angry with Sasuke. The selfish, power-hungry Uchiha had hurt their children—Shikamaru and Chouji were _heirs_. Never mind that it was only indirectly that Sasuke had hurt them, he was still ultimately responsible.

Still, it had been a headache-inducing balancing act in determining Sasuke's punishment. Minato alone had decided it. But he had to make sure that it was acceptable to the other clans so that they wouldn't force the Hokage to reconsider his sentence. It had taken endless small meetings and hours to decide, but decide he had…

The double doors at the far end of the room groaned open and a pair of animal-masked ANBU entered, dragging a chained Uchiha Sasuke between them. The pale, sullen boy was no longer blindfolded as his eyes were now sealed. He appeared mostly recovered from his fights and his arrogant attitude that Minato had encountered earlier was even worse now. The boy was expressionless, and his dark eyes stared straight ahead, giving no sign of acknowledging anyone in the room.

Minato sat on the rising urge to hit the boy.

The two ANBU positioned Sasuke before the village council, carefully attached the boy's chains to heavy rings in the floor, and stepped back into the shadows of the room, ready to react if their prisoner decided to try anything stupid. Minato sat back in his chair and stared down his son's teammate. Sasuke continued mutely broadcasting his defiance and contempt of the proceedings by giving no sign of acknowledgement or respect for the room's occupants.

Finally the silence was broken.

"Uchiha Sasuke, before your sentence is declared, have you anything to say?" Minato asked, not expecting any reply.

There was none.

"Fine." Minato cleared his throat a tad theatrically and got down to business. "Uchiha Sasuke, for your crimes of deserting the village with intent to ally with a sworn enemy of Konohagakure no Sato and an S-class criminal; the injury of Nara Shikamaru, Inuzuka Kiba and Akamaru; the severe injury of Akimichi Chouji and Hyuuga Neji; and the attempted murder of Uzumaki Naruto—you are sentenced thusly:

"You are suspended from active duty until further notice. You are prohibited from all but the lightest training—meant only to preserve your physical fitness—you are stripped of all your weapons and heavily restricted in your ninjutsu and genjutsu. You will meet with Morino Ibiki once every two weeks to determine your mental fitness; it is on his reports that it will be determined when you are allowed back on active duty.

"Upon your return to active duty – if you are _ever_ cleared for active duty again – you will be forbidden from participating in the Chuunin Exams, or being promoted outside of them, for a _minimum_ of two years. Your fitness to participate in the Exams is once again dependent upon the evaluations of Morino Ibiki. As for any possible promotion to jounin, you will be heavily screened and tested twice as hard.

"Until your eighteenth birthday you are placed under the guardianship of the Hyuuga clan. You will live with them in their clan compound. You will obey them and their rules without exception. If you prove yourself unfit to live on your own at your eighteenth birthday, you will remain under the care of the Hyuuga clan until you are determined to be fit to live on your own. During this time, you are forbidden to enter the Uchiha District and any property therein, unless you have Hiashi's permission and you are escorted by an adult of the Hyuuga clan.

"All your clan assets are, as of this moment, frozen. All funds and property of the Uchiha clan will be held by the village until your eighteenth birthday. If you are deemed unfit at that time, your clan assets will be permanently seized and you will possess nothing that you have not earned in the intervening period.

"Should the time come when you have produced children and reapply for clan status in the village, you will again be heavily scrutinized. If you are found to be unfit, you will not be granted a seat on this council. If you are found to be fit, your influence here will be limited—only when clan leadership is passed to your heir will the Uchiha clan's power be fully restored."

Minato paused and switched from a stern recitation of Sasuke's sentence to delivering an icy warning to the impassive boy.

"Should you ever attempt to desert the village again, or deliberately cause the harm of any comrade, you will not only never leave the bounds of the village ever again, _you will never again see the light of day_, and you will risk execution."

The boy remained unmoved and Minato seriously wondered if the boy was actually listening to a word that he said.

"This punishment is far lighter than what you truly deserve," Minato continued coldly. "If I had completely free reign to determine your sentence I would permanently strip you of your shinobi status, bar you from ever being a ninja again, and permanently restrict you to the borders of the village. I would also very much like to execute you, but regrettably your bloodline is too important to simply destroy without attempting to repopulate it."

The young Hokage sipped at a small glass of water and started the wrap-up of the sentencing.

"Later this evening I will be placing a few tracking seals on you to insure that you are unable to slip out of the village undetected and track you should you foolishly attempt it. There will always be at least one tracking seal on you at all times, regardless of any and all trust you manage to win back. Should you try to remove or tamper with any seal that I place on you, you will be placed into the ANBU-run prison for a month and the seals will be repaired or replaced.

"In the morning, you will be released into the custody of the Hyuuga clan, and your sentence will formally begin." Minato leaned back in his seat and rather disinterestedly asked: "Do you have any questions, Sasuke?"

"What about the seals on my eyes?" Sasuke asked, speaking for the first time since the proceedings began.

"I may—_may_—remove those when I determine that you are fit to wield the Sharingan again. However, if your Sharingan is never unsealed, that will not impair your ability to be a shinobi, nor will it prevent any children you might produce from developing the Sharingan." Minato smiled thinly at the boy. "At this point in time, considering your current attitude and actions, the chances of me unlocking your Sharingan are very nearly zero."

Sasuke's face finally gained an expression: absolute fury. Minato stared back, unflinching. It was Sasuke who eventually looked away.

"Have you anything else to say, Sasuke?"

The boy's expression remained hateful and sour, but he said no more.

"Return him to his cell," the Hokage commanded the ANBU. As the double doors closed behind the boy, Minato dissolved the meeting. "This hearing is adjourned."

* * *

Some hours later, Sasuke sat in his cell and seethed. His back – where the tracking seals had been applied – was a bit sore, but it wasn't anything like the pain he'd endured when the cursed seal of heaven had been resealed…and his eyes had been taken away. Just thinking about the black symbols that ringed his eyes made him grind his teeth in rage.

_How dare he?! He has no right to take away my eyes! None! He has overstepped his powers as Hokage with this!_

It had been insulting enough the way that the Hokage had had him paraded before the heads of all the respected clans like some sort of prize animal. Then his disgrace was further compounded by each part of his punishment—every aspect more humiliating than the last. And then the final unforgivable insult: what amounted to the permanent sealing of his eyes.

_He will not be forgiven,_ Sasuke decided. _Itachi will have to wait. If I get strong enough to kill the __**Hokage**__, killing big brother will be a breeze…_


	11. Madness of the Uchiha

**Chapter 10**  
_Madness of the Uchiha_

Shikamaru would've let the matter drop—because it was _really_ turning out to be troublesome—except it was a fascinating (and disturbing) puzzle, and he could never really let go of any puzzle. He'd just made it back to the village the previous night and he would've liked to take the day off, but his investigation was calling to him…unfortunately. So as soon as he could get away from his various family responsibilities, he had.

Thankfully his mission had been simple, no one had been really hurt, and it was a success. It had gone well enough that he'd had stretches of time to ponder the facts. There had been time enough to develop some theories…

He thought over all that Gaara had said in his tale in the hospital. He considered everything he'd observed about Naruto and the villagers. And then he looked to recent history and tried to come up with parallels in all the information he was considering.

From that came a shaky theory. He needed a lot more information before he'd really consider it a true possibility. And to get that information he'd need to be cautious…and get some help.

The chuunin sighed as he finally came into view of the small, isolated neighborhood that housed the Aburame clan on the fringes of the village. No one else lived nearby; they feared the Aburame's bugs…and perhaps the Aburame themselves. Their clan was known for their strict adherence to logic as much as for their habit of always wearing sunglasses and their use of chakra-devouring beetles. They were a mysterious lot whose expressions and emotions (if they really had any—some people were skeptical about that) were hard enough to read even without the shades and heavy coats with high collars.

But logic was what Shikamaru wanted. He wanted a logical mind to run over what he knew; another intelligent mind to bounce some ideas off. And he wanted someone who would be discreet.

He felt some relief at seeing the Aburame that he wanted leaving the neighborhood just as he was approaching it. Shikamaru had nothing against the Aburame, but he wasn't keen on exploring their mysterious mini-realm. That would be an expedition for another day…if ever at all.

"Shino!"

His classmate paused and could've been surprised, but it was hard to tell with the collar of his coat covering his mouth and his round shades hiding his eyes.

"Have you got a minute?" Shikamaru asked as he sauntered up Shino. "I've noticed some things and I'd like your opinion on them…"

* * *

Naruto chugged some water and sighed as he took a short break in his training. He was no longer forbidden from exercising (and that stupid seal that his dad had painted on his wrist was gone, too!) and he was taking full advantage of it. But…

_It's not the same._

Kakashi-sensei was probably off on a mission…again. Sakura was training with Tsunade-baa-chan as her newest apprentice. And Sasuke…was in a lot of trouble and stuck at Hinata's house until further notice.

Training by himself was not the same. Sure, he'd done it all the time when he'd still been in the Academy. Back then he'd had no choice really. What parent would let their child train with the demon-brat?

Being put on Team Seven was a welcome change in training procedures. Ninja training meant competing with Sasuke-teme, vying for Sakura-chan's attention, and trying to get a glimpse of Kakashi-sensei's face. Something interesting always happened, something different.

Training alone was just more of the same…and no company.

_Ero-Sennin's probably off doing something, too,_ Naruto sighed. _He wasn't by the hot springs yesterday…or any of those other places where he can peep on girls. Maybe he's actually doing some work!_

_And Iruka-sensei is teaching at the Academy._ The boy pouted and flopped back on the grass. _I never thought I'd miss being stuck in the school…_

His hand absently plucked at the grass and he stared up through the branches of the shade tree at the noon sky. "I could…go see Sasuke."

He _could_ do that… But it would require getting permission to get inside the Hyuuga clan compound, and as the Kyuubi-brat he doubted he could manage that. And if he did get in somehow his visit would be supervised by at least one adult.

Naruto unconsciously rubbed at the shoulder that Sasuke had punched through and glanced around at the training grounds. Instead of walking over to the public grounds, he'd simply used his own backyard which was intended to be the Hokage's private training spot. Since Naruto lived in the Hokage Manor too, he'd used the private grounds all the time. They weren't any more dangerous than any of the other public fields…except when the Hokage trained, because then at least one squad of ANBU would be skulking around, ready to pounce and make any training twice as hard and much more deadly.

"I might as well try," Naruto sighed and trudged back inside to clean up a bit before setting out for the Hyuuga clan compound.

While he'd never been in the domain of any of the great ninja clans of the village, Naruto knew where they all were. When he'd been small his father would sometimes try to take him along on casual or social visits to other important ninja's homes to avoid leaving him in the care of a babysitter. But every time the other ninja would request – very politely, of course – to not bring Naruto with. Sometimes they had decent excuses—they had a sick child and didn't want Naruto to catch it or some such—but usually they gave no explanation.

Then Naruto would be sent home under the care of an ANBU bodyguard…who would be stuck babysitting him. Back then Yamato hadn't yet entered into ANBU (well, as far as Naruto knew, he hadn't) so "Dog" was the masked warrior that most commonly drew babysitting duty. Dog had been nice enough, though not as social as Yamato, and Naruto had rather missed him when the canine-masked ANBU had retired from the service almost five years ago. Sometimes it was hard to remember to look for the brown-haired man with the cat mask and not the silver-haired—

Naruto paused, mid-step.

_Silver hair? "Dog"? And…that voice…_

"Kakashi-sensei?"

"Yes?"

Naruto yelped and looked up to see his jounin-sensei standing nearby, holding a paper bag filled with groceries. He blinked a few times, then recovered himself and pointed an accusing finger at his teacher. "You're Dog!"

The jounin thoughtfully tapped at his masked chin, then crinkled his one visible eye in a smile. "Why yes I was!"

"Why didn't you say anything to me about it?" Naruto demanded angrily.

"For one, ANBU identities are top secret," his sensei replied. "And for another, my role in your life is now very different. My purpose isn't to protect and amuse you, it's to teach, protect, and lead you. I am the boss and it wouldn't do you or the team any good if you thought you could order me around like you could before."

"Oh." Naruto scratched his head thoughtfully. "I guess that makes sense…" Then he scowled. "You could've said something later, though."

"Perhaps," Kakashi grinned. "But congratulations! You managed to figure it out on your own."

"Hmph!" Naruto pouted.

_It all makes sense now that I think about it… Dad was Kakashi-sensei's sensei, and he's really strong, so of course he'd get into the ANBU to serve his old sensei. And Kakashi-sensei really knew how to run rings around me during the bell test…and there was always something kind of familiar about him…_

"So what are you up to, Naruto?" Kakashi asked.

"I was going to the Hyuuga compound," he shrugged.

"To see Hinata?" Kakashi cheerfully suggested. "Nice clothes, by the way."

"Thanks, and…huh?" Naruto blinked in puzzlement. "Why do you think I'd be going to see Hinata?"

"Well, Hinata lives in the Hyuuga compound as she is a Hyuuga," Kakashi pointed out. "And you like her, don't you?"

"Yeah, she's a nice girl, but…" He shuffled his sandals nervously. "I was going to see if I could visit Sasuke."

"Oh." His sensei's cheer evaporated. "Are you sure you want to do that?"

"I dunno," Naruto squirmed. "I should try to see him," he decided more firmly. "I'd want to have visitors if I was stuck in his position."

"If that's what you want to do…" When Naruto didn't back down, the jounin sighed. "Let me take my groceries home and I'll go with you."

"Okay," Naruto grinned, deeply relieved. He fell in-step with his teacher, immensely glad that he wasn't going to have to see Sasuke alone. "Should we see if Sakura-chan wants to come, too?"

"I don't think it could hurt."

Naruto grinned and felt doubly relieved. With the whole team gathered together they were sure to reach Sasuke and fix things! …Right?

* * *

Sakura clenched her fists to try and keep them from trembling too visibly. Naruto and Kakashi-sensei had intercepted her on her way to the library and invited her to come with them to see Sasuke. There was no way that she could refuse.

Now she found herself sitting in a tea room in the Main Family residence of the surprisingly large Hyuuga compound with her teammate and teacher. With Kakashi-sensei to back them up, it hadn't been hard to get inside and get permission to see Sasuke. Her traitorous teammate, who she hadn't been allowed to see since his forcible return to the village, was now only a few rooms away…

The door suddenly slid open and Sasuke was led inside by a Branch Hyuuga. The last Uchiha settled down at the low table, across from the three of them, and the Hyuuga knelt by the door to quietly oversee things. Sakura could barely breathe as her green eyes darted over the form of the boy that she'd so long adored.

He looked very much like he had that night when he'd left, and left her knocked out on a bench. The only thing that jumped out at her that was different about him was some strange black marks that ringed his eyes. She wanted to ask him about it—ask him about everything—but she couldn't find any words to say.

And the tense silence wore on for an eternity.

"So how are you, Sasuke?" Naruto asked, bulling through the silence clumsily as he always did.

Sasuke replied by glaring at him with absolute contempt. "What do you think _dobe_?"

"I'd say you're doing pretty good," Naruto grinned and had Kakashi-sensei not sat between them Sakura might've hit him for his stupidity. "You're not dead, Orochimaru isn't experimenting on you, you're safe in Konoha, and one day you'll be able to be a ninja again. That all sounds good to me."

"And that just proves how stupid you are," Sasuke sneered. "I'm a prisoner of a lesser clan. I'm denied the power I need and held from my path of vengeance. _My eyes have been taken from me_."

"Your eyes are still in your head," Naruto snorted. "You just can't use them to cheat anymore."

"My birthright has been _stolen_ from me," Sasuke responded icily. "My eyes are now as worthless as yours. It's little better than being blind."

"You're such a drama queen!" Naruto shot back.

Sakura was horrified. "Naruto—!"

"And what's this about a 'lesser clan'?" the blonde boy continued, steamrolling over her protest. "The Hyuuga clan has a kekkei genkai, too! They can't do what your eyes can, but their eyes can do stuff yours can't. I'd say that the Hyuuga and the Uchiha are about equal."

"Why am I even wasting my breath to tell you this?" Sasuke sighed. "You're too simple-minded to possibly understand."

Naruto growled. "_…Sasuke!_"

Desperation finally gave her tongue strength to speak. "Try to look on the bright side, Sasuke-kun," she pleaded, forcing a cheerful smile. "Naruto has a point; things could be a whole lot worse. Things will get better. You just have to be patient, that's all."

"Shut up," Sasuke commanded harshly. His black eyes glittered like shards of ice. "You can't possibly understand. _You're so annoying_!"

She'd heard the word "annoying" thrown her way so many times; surely she should be immune to it by now. But every time he flung the verbal kunai at her it still cut deep. But she somehow held herself together, took a deep breath, and tried to forge on and bridge the void that stretched between them.

"Help me understand then," she begged. "I want to help you, Sasuk—"

"The only way you can help me is by staying out of my way," Sasuke cut in sharply. "My path is to be walked alone. If you try to help, you'll only be holding me back."

"And how do you know that?" Naruto demanded, fed up with quietly seething.

"Itachi told me," Sasuke replied, as if the answer should've been obvious. "Bonds with others will only make me weak. If I build bonds with others, he will be able to attack them and hurt me. Only by standing alone will I be strong enough to kill him. And kill him I will."

"Wait a minute, wait a minute!" Naruto frowned, waving his hands. "Itachi, the guy that you hate, the guy that killed your whole _clan_, told you to do something…_and you're going to do it?!_ That makes no sense! Why would you do exactly what your enemy tells you to?"

"Itachi gave me the key to his destruction because he believes I am too weak and cowardly to succeed." Sasuke's sneer was feral. "His foolish arrogance is my gain."

"That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard," Naruto spat. "He probably told you that crap to keep you weak. If you go up against him all by yourself he's going to kick your ass! If you really want to beat Itachi, I say you do the opposite of what he says."

"And _that_ is the dumbest thing that _I_ have ever heard," Sasuke fired back. "Itachi is my foe and I will kill him—_alone_."

"Good luck with that." Naruto rolled his eyes and sighed. "By the time you get out from under your suspension, someone else will have knocked Itachi off for you."

"Don't be ridiculous, no one can kill Itachi."

Naruto stared blankly at his rival for a minute. "If no one can kill Itachi, what makes you think that _you_ can?"

"I am an Avenger," Sasuke replied simply. "I will see justice done no matter what the cost. Any other opponent will crumble before my brother, but my purpose is greater. I will succeed, because that is my destiny: to avenge."

"That sounds just like the sort of crap that Neji was spouting during the Chuunin Exams," Naruto scowled. "And that never got him anywhere."

"Sasuke-kun," Sakura interjected, trying to keep their conversation from devolving into a screaming match. "I think you should do what Naruto's suggesting. Don't do what Itachi told you to do—have bonds. We'll help you take him down when the time comes, and—"

"_You_? Fight Itachi? Don't be ridiculous. You can't even beat _Naruto_, and he's a pathetic moron." Sasuke looked down at her like she was some disgusting bug. "You're weak, you'll only get in the way, and you'll be the first to die. Being a real ninja is beyond you and that fact that you keep pathetically trying is part of what makes you so annoying."

She opened her mouth to refute his words, protest them, deny them…and nothing came out. The room and Sasuke sitting across from her started to blur and run and she numbly realized that she was crying. Every hard-won fiber of confidence and determination that she'd gathered up to try and improve herself shuddered and threatened to disintegrate.

"You take all that back about Sakura-chan!" Naruto demanded furiously, suddenly on his feet and gesturing wildly. "She's twice the ninja you are, you bastard!"

Sasuke let out a dark chuckle. "Make me, _weakling_," he invited maliciously.

"You—!"

Naruto was cut off as Kakashi yanked him back down to the floor. "That's enough; no one's going to get into a fight here." He gently squeezed Sakura's shoulder and she curled in on herself in what she knew was a pathetic attempt to hide her crying. "Now Sasuke, if all you're going to do if provoke fights and cling to your delusions, you're not going to be getting many visitors."

"Delusions?!" Sasuke sounded incensed.

"I think we've overstayed our welcome," Kakashi continued calmly. "We won't get anywhere with him."

Sakura could barely see, barely stand, and let her sensei guide her from the room. She didn't make it out of the Hyuuga's household before she simply couldn't walk any farther and collapsed in tears. Distantly she was aware of Naruto and her sensei trying to calm her down, but neither was really good at it.

"Hey Sakura-chan," Naruto grinned his stupid, cocky grin, as her tears slowly dried. "Don't you worry about a single thing that that bastard said to you. I think that that nasty tattoo that Orochimaru put on him fried his brain. By the time he's allowed to be a ninja again, you'll be more than strong enough to pound him into paste! And he'll be _begging_ you for your help in taking down his brother."

He really believed that; she could see it in his bright blue eyes. Naruto had absolute faith that she would not only succeed, but excel. What she wouldn't give for Sasuke to have a single shred of Naruto's faith in her.

_If only I could've fallen for Naruto instead…_

* * *

If Naruto wasn't so angry, he might've wondered why he hadn't been kicked out of the Hyuuga clan's domain yet. Once Sakura-chan had recovered herself enough, she left for home. Kakashi-sensei had left shortly afterwards. Sasuke was somewhere else in the sprawling house and for his sake he'd better stay out of sight or Naruto was going to pound him into next week.

After he'd been left alone near the front door Naruto had wandered off into some side garden. The other Hyuuga had to know where he was; they had those crazy eyes that could see through walls and stuff. When they wanted to kick him out, they would, but until then…he'd just hang out in the garden.

It was a nice little garden. The shrubs were neatly trimmed and shaped, as was the twisting path that snaked around and through it. There was a nice little koi pond in one corner with small koi fish and lily pads in it. And an elaborately carved stone bench topped off the little retreat tucked away within the clan compound walls.

"Gah!" Naruto sputtered and collapsed on the bench to tear at his hair. "Sasuke's such a bastard!" And then his fury suddenly fell in on itself and morphed into a crater of despair. "What's the matter with him?"

_It's like he's seeing things that aren't there…or that he's blind to whatever he doesn't want to see. Why would he just go along with what Itachi told him to do? If I were him, I'd just go and do the opposite just to piss my evil brother off!_

_And all that stuff he said to Sakura-chan! Why would he say that? Doesn't he know that she's training to get stronger? Doesn't he care? …Of course he doesn't care…because he's a bastard!_

_…What am I going to do? What __**can**__ I do? This is such a mess._

"N-Naruto-kun?"

He looked up and found Hinata hovering nearby, fidgeting nervously. "Hey Hinata. Does your family want me to leave?"

"What?" Apparently she was too surprised to stutter. "Why would they want that?"

"I dunno," Naruto shrugged and toed the dirt with his sandal. "Did you have a question?"

"U-um," she ducked her head and her stutter slammed back into place. "I-I j-just wanted t-to know if y-you wanted any-anything…"

"Like what?"

"M-maybe s-something to drink o-or eat…" Her index fingers started tapping together and she shrank a bit into the shadows of a nearby pillar.

"No, I'm good." Naruto eyed her with mild curiosity. "You don't have to stand all the way over there. I don't bite, I promise."

She squeaked and withdrew further into the shadows, fidgeting nervously.

Naruto swallowed a sigh and looked back out at the garden. Hinata was a very nice girl and it was a shame that she always seemed to be ill. The way that she always crumbled around him made him think that she was somehow allergic to him, or something he came into contact with all the time (hopefully it wasn't ramen, it'd be a real tragedy if she had an allergy to such a great food).

But the way that she always seemed skittish around him—always hiding behind things, never able to look at him or talk to him—made him think that she was afraid of him. Maybe it was the fox. With her Byakugan eyes that could see chakra flow and even see through people maybe she could see it inside of him. If that was the reason, he totally understood and didn't blame her one bit.

"N-Naruto-kun?"

He looked over at her again and wondered just when she had settled on the very edge of the bench. "Huh?"

"W-what's wrong?" she asked timidly, her voice so quiet he could barely hear her. "C-can I h-help?"

"Sasuke's just being a much bigger bastard than he usually is," Naruto snorted sourly. "Hey, what's it like to have him living in your house?"

"I-I try t-to avoid him," she squeaked. "H-he f-frightens me. The l-look in his eyes…" She shivered. "I w-wish otou-sama hadn't o-offered to l-let him s-stay here."

"Yeah, the stuff he was saying earlier…" He shook his head. "I'd try to knock some sense into him, but I tried that on the mission and it didn't work."

"W-well…um…" She fiddled with the drawstrings of her hood for a minute or two. "M-maybe…maybe he j-just needs s-some time to…to cool off a-and think. Maybe w-when he's calmer you'll m-make him see…"

"Maybe…" He grinned. "The big baby's probably still cranky about being punished!"

She smiled back at him and he was a bit surprised at what a nice smile she had, and he realized that he couldn't remember if he'd ever seen it before.

"You should smile more, Hinata; you have a really nice smile!"

Maybe she was allergic to compliments. She squeaked, her face got terribly red, and she started to sway. He barely caught her before she toppled off the bench, and he found that she was out cold.

"Oh no…"

Nervously he arranged her on the bench so that hopefully she'd be comfortable, and then he darted back into the house desperately seeking help and praying that he didn't get in trouble and permanently banned for making her faint…again. He had only a vague idea of where he was and how to get back to the front door where his sandals were; he had no clue where to find any help. Thankfully, though, someone found him before he completely panicked and ran down a hallway at random.

"Naruto?"

"Neji!" Naruto gasped in relief when he saw Hinata's older cousin come around the corner. "Hinata fainted; I think she needs a doctor!"

Neji, still extra pale but much healthier looking, sighed. "Don't worry about it—I will see to Hinata-sama. I was sent to communicate the clan elders' desire that you leave."

"Okay," Naruto agreed, relieved that someone familiar with Hinata's health problems would be taking care of her. "See ya, Neji—_ack_!"

"Watch where you're going!"

Naruto blinked and stumbled back to find that he'd collided with a young Hyuuga girl. She was tiny and he guessed that she was even younger than Konohamaru and his little crew. The girl wore her hair longer than Hinata and her attitude was a lot like Neji's: snobby, cold, and superior.

"Sorry, didn't see ya," he apologized sheepishly.

"Well obviously," the girl snorted. "Who are you and what are you doing near my mother's garden?"

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto!" he informed her. "And I was just sitting out there thinking." He cocked his head curiously. "Who are you?"

"She is Hinata-sama's younger sister, Hanabi-sama," Neji replied.

"Cool," he grinned. "Hi Hinata's little sister!"

"My name is Hanabi," the girl growled. "Uzumaki Naruto…" she repeated thoughtfully. "You're the one who defeated Neji in the Chuunin Exams."

"Yep!" Naruto laughed, puffing up his chest with pride.

"Well…at least your taste in clothing has improved," she remarked.

"Hey!"

"Naruto," Neji muttered warningly.

"Okay, okay, I'm going!" Naruto huffed and spun on his heel to leave.

As he padded towards the front door, Hanabi's voice echoed down the hall after him. "So that's the boy that Nee-chan adores?"

_"Adores"?_ Naruto frowned. _…I must've heard wrong._


	12. Meetings and Disturbing Observations

**Chapter 11:** _  
Secret Meetings and Disturbing Observations_

Shikamaru trudged out of the hospital after visiting his best friend. Chouji was the last of them still in the hospital—Naruto, Neji, and Kiba and Akamaru had already been released already. His chubby friend had suffered the most damage; his own body had slowly been destroying itself due to the side-effects of the Akimichi clan's special pills. He was still so thin and weak that Chouji just didn't look like himself. But if he continued to improve, he'd be released home in a week to put back on all the muscle and padding that he'd lost.

As he came into sight of the front gates of the Hyuuga clan compound, Shino seemed to magically materialize beside him. Shikamaru gave him a bare nod of acknowledgement as he continued on walking. The bug-user nodded in return and wasted no time with words.

After Shikamaru had brought Shino up to speed (leaving out the potential theory he had in mind), the Aburame had discussed the evidence with him with great interest. Shino independently came to similar conclusions as Shikamaru. And he had a suggestion as to where to go next.

Hyuuga Neji had fought Naruto in the final round of the Chuunin Exams and used a devastating clan technique to seal up his opponents chakra. Yet somehow Naruto had overcome that and continued to fight. And Neji, with his Byakugan eyes, could've seen how that was done, and other abnormalities about Naruto and his chakra system. So interviewing him was a good next step.

And the Hyuuga clan also had guardianship of Uchiha Sasuke. Naruto had recently fought with him and perhaps Sasuke had seen something. If they could get permission to talk to him maybe they could learn more…

But first things first, they would talk to Neji and then go from there.

* * *

Naruto ran through the basic taijutsu drills he'd learned in the Academy in his backyard. Or, at least he tried to. He'd never been all that great at taijutsu in school. Most of the other kids could handle the drills no problem, but Naruto always found himself stumbling or tripping or falling on his face—even when he did exactly as his instructor directed (when an instructor ever bothered to give him any attention).

With a strangled yelp, he stumbled (yet again) and face-planted into the grass (yet again). He sighed into the grass, laid there for a moment, and then picked himself up (_yet again_). Then he yelped and lurched backwards onto his butt.

"Don't sneak up on me like that!" he shouted, pointing angrily upwards at his dad who had suddenly appeared in front of him.

"Naruto…what were you doing?"

"I was practicing."

His dad gave him a blank look. "Practicing what?"

"Academy drills."

The Hokage just looked at him, his expression still blankly befuddled.

"What?" Naruto grumbled defensively. "I'm doing them just how Mizuki-sensei—"

While Mizuki-sensei hadn't been an openly nasty teacher like some of his previous instructors, the man hadn't been terribly nice either. Mizuki-sensei was also the man who had tried to manipulate him into stealing a scroll of dangerous jutsu, broke the Hokage's secret law about the Kyuubi, and then tried to kill him. It was easily possible that Mizuki-sensei – the taijutsu teacher – had instructed him incorrectly…on purpose.

Naruto slumped. "It's wrong, isn't it?"

"Yes," his father answered bluntly.

"Great," Naruto sighed.

"Well," his dad said after a moment. "Are you going to get up?"

Naruto blinked and obediently clambered up from the ground.

"Now show me the opening stance that he taught you."

Wincing, Naruto reluctantly shifted into the faulty stance. His dad sighed at the sight of it and started adjusting it with pokes and toe-prods. When the adjusting was complete, Naruto was startled by how much more balanced he felt.

"And now let's go through this bit by bit."

An hour later Naruto had relearned half of the basic drills under his father's direction. Now that he'd been coached properly, the drills were much less frustrating and he wasn't spending half the time falling on his face. And the fact that it was his dad who was doing the teaching made it the single best practice ever.

If only it could've lasted all day.

"Well, that's it for my lunch break," the Hokage remarked as he glanced up at the angle of the sun. "I suppose I'll have to grab some take-out on my way back…"

"Oh, okay," Naruto sighed, slumping a bit. _Damn it…_

"Keep practicing the drills we went over; it takes time and repetition to break bad habits." He patted Naruto's shoulder and strode off. "We'll go over the other half of the drills soon. Have fun!"

"Bye!" Naruto yelled after him.

Once he was alone again, Naruto considered the possibility of his dad actually getting around to correcting his understanding of the last five taijutsu drills. His dad was a very reliable guy—he had to be to be Hokage—his word had to mean something. But the public had to come before his private life and Naruto was definitely part of the private life. Therefore, the actual chances of his dad finding more than the odd lunch break to teach him anything verged on nil.

_Oh well…_ Naruto shrugged to himself and started to do the first five drills—the right way this time. _Maybe I can get Iruka-sensei to help me…if he isn't busy._

* * *

Shikamaru stared up at the clouds on his favorite rooftop and sighed as his mind buzzed with thoughts. Shino sat stolidly nearby, apparently communicating with his insects. Neji was slumped near an air conditioning unit, observing a small flock of birds fluttering about several roofs away.

Interviewing Neji had been most informative. The Hyuuga prodigy had most definitely seen something during his match with Naruto in the Chuunin Exams. When Naruto had been unsealing his chakra, the chakra that he'd been using had looked strange. The Byakugan was blind to the subtlety of chakra; it was mainly sensitive to the flow of the energy. Yet Neji had been able to clearly see a difference in the chakra that Naruto had started using…and he almost thought he saw some of the twisting chakra form a beastly eye for a moment.

When the information that Shikamaru had noted was presented to Neji, he too came to similar conclusions. He also added to their knowledge base. The previous day Naruto had come over to the Hyuuga compound with Sakura and his sensei to visit Sasuke. Naruto had lagged behind after the remainder of his team had departed and the clan elders had told Neji to send Naruto away. Naruto seemed to expect this, and Hinata had told him that when she had stumbled across him a little earlier he had thought that that was what she had come to tell him. Hinata had also told Neji how surprised Naruto had been to be treated as a guest.

With all the evidence (except for Shikamaru's personal opinions on the possibility all three of them had contemplated) shared, they lost themselves in their own thoughts high up on the roof. They had come here to avoid eavesdroppers while they discussed their classmate and comrade. And also to hide from Sasuke.

Neji had shot down the idea of talking to Sasuke when Shikamaru had asked. The Branch Hyuuga told them all that he knew about Team Seven's dubious reunion in a Hyuuga tea room. Sasuke was, in Neji's opinion, very unstable, very dangerous, and completely untrustworthy. Shikamaru and Shino had to agree with that assessment.

"Shikamaru," Neji said suddenly. "What exactly instigated this investigation?"

That was a question that Shino hadn't asked.

"When I picked up Naruto for the retrieval mission I was surprised to see where he lived. And later it came to me that none of us really knew much about his life outside of the Academy and being a ninja." Shikamaru shifted into an upright position on his cloud-watching bench. "So I set out to find out about Naruto's family, and stumbled over something else entirely."

"And what did you find out about Naruto's family?" Neji asked.

"Very little," Shikamaru admitted. "When Ino and I took him shopping he told Ino that his mother was dead. In all my searching, I never heard anything else about her or who she might be. As for his father, I have nothing but suspicions. Based on observations of behavior, his house, and physical resemblance…I believe that he is somehow related to the Hokage."

Both of Shino's eyebrows rose over his round shades, an indicator of his strong surprise. "Hmm… I can certainly see a resemblance between them. Interesting."

"Indeed," Neji quietly agreed. "Why not confront Naruto about it?"

"I've been considering it—"

"Shikamaru?"

The Nara turned to the stairs that led up to the roof and found Ino there, looking anxious. "Eh?"

She hesitated before determinedly marching up to him. "Lazy ass, I need you to put your genius brain to good use!"

"Oh?" he sluggishly raised an eyebrow.

"You remember about what happened when we got Naruto's fashion sense adjusted?" she demanded, sitting down next to him on the bench. Before he could even nod yes or no she rolled on in a rush. "Well, I did exactly what I said I'd do—because that cashier was so incredibly rude, and the gossip was fantastic—so I told what happened to anybody who would listen! People around our age were all upset and confused, but…" Ino hesitated, her blue eyes troubled.

Shikamaru sighed. "But?"

"But when I'd tell anyone older…they'd shrug it off, or…or—some of them congratulated that jerk!" Ino sputtered, livid. "None of them seemed surprised at all that that would happen to Naruto—it was like: 'Eh, that kid got screwed over? The sky being blue is bigger news than that!' Can you believe that? I mean, I know Naruto's unpopular for being a prankster and a clown and annoying, but that's just mean!"

"Yeah," Shikamaru nodded. _Though not really unexpected in light of what I've been discovering._

"And today, just as I was taking my lunch break, Hinata came into the shop to look at flower seeds, so I talked to her. I told her about the results of my gossip-spreading—because she was there in the store too, and I know she has this thing for Naruto, so she'd be interested for sure—and I found out more!" Ino paused to suck in a deep breath before rushing along at top gossip speed.

"She's had a crush on Naruto since practically forever, so in the Academy she'd always watch him and stuff in her little wallflower way. She told me how it always seemed like the instructors were out to get him in class. They'd always hit him with the hardest questions and belittle him when he didn't know, and then some other kid would try to answer and get it wrong and the teacher would be a whole lot nicer to that kid. Or if he asked for something to be explained better the teacher would talk down to him and then not help him. All sorts of stuff like that—the stories Hinata had—it's endless!"

Ino suddenly stilled, then continued on in more subdued tones. "I asked my dad why people would be picking on Naruto like that before I came to find you, and he said that nothing was wrong. But he was lying! I can always tell when daddy lies to me! I got on his case about it…and he threatened to _ground me_! I haven't been grounded since…since…I was like seven!"

She leaned over to him, her face grim. "It's a conspiracy I tell you!" she hissed and tapped his forehead with her finger. "So what does your genius brain make of all that?"

"Troublesome," Shikamaru grunted. _Why did a loud-mouth gossip like Ino have to catch on to this?_

"Shika-kun," Ino growled warningly.

He leaned back and stared up at the clouds for a moment. "I think it _is_ a conspiracy."

"You…what?" she squeaked.

"I asked my dad some questions about Naruto and hit a brick wall," Shikamaru informed her.

"I have also made inquiries concerning Naruto within my clan," Shino remarked, making Ino jump in surprise. "All of those conversations were either redirected onto some other subject, or terminated with no satisfactory explanation."

"I am not advantageously placed within the social structure of the Hyuuga clan, so I do not feel that any inquiry concerning Naruto that I might make will be answered at all, regardless of any conspiracy," Neji sighed (again making Ino jump). "However, in the rare instances in which Naruto is mentioned within the walls of my clan, it is never in anything but a severely negative light. And there are no details mentioned that would explain why this is. They clearly have a reason—or feel that they have a reason—to look down upon him, yet they never say what it is."

"Wow, this is like, the young genius club of Konoha," Ino muttered, glancing around. "The only one missing is Sasuke-kun… Are you going to bring him in on this, too?"

"No," Shikamaru answered flatly.

"And you won't tell him, or anyone else, about this," Neji instructed her.

"Considering the nature of this mysterious conspiracy, the adults would most likely be thoroughly unhappy with us pursuing this line of investigation," Shino added.

"Oh, alright…I guess that makes sense," Ino muttered.

"And don't tell Naruto, either," Shikamaru warned her.

"What?" Ino yelled. "Why not? He's part of this mystery! What if he knows something?"

"I think there's a very good chance that he knows _exactly_ what's going on," Shikamaru replied.

Ino blinked. "Huh?"

"Your reasoning?" Neji inquired.

"How I've seen him react to the villagers' prejudice and discrimination, and something he said seems to indicate this." Shikamaru hadn't told anyone about Naruto's apparent slip in the hospital (_"I have a real monster inside me"_); it wasn't his secret to go around telling. "And think of it this way: The adults all appear to know this secret, and they treat him horribly. There are some exceptions—Iruka-sensei, the Hokage, our senseis, and perhaps a few others—but they are a small minority. We don't know, and we treat him normally. If we were to find out this secret, it would be logical to assume that we – like all the adults – would treat him badly. So why would he tell us this secret if he fears that it would cost him our friendship?"

"He would not," Shino responded. "From what I have observed, Naruto highly values friendship and takes pains to always try and expand his network of friends. And considering the long-term prejudice and persecution from the villagers, he has likely been isolated much of his life and would fear the return to such a state through losing the friends that he has gained. If he has knowledge of the reason for the conspiracy against him, it would be in his own best interests to willingly participate in the secrecy element of the conspiracy."

Ino mulled this over for several minutes before opening her mouth again. "So, you're saying we can't let Naruto know that we're poking around for his secret because he'll get scared at how we'd react to what we might find and react badly?"

"Yes," Shikamaru sighed. "What a drag…"

"Yeah." Ino twirled a long lock of her blonde hair for a moment or two. "Have you talked to Sakura yet?"

Shikamaru frowned. "No…"

"Well, she's his teammate and spends a whole lot more time with him than we do. Maybe she's noticed something." She shrugged. "You could ask Sasuke-kun…but you already said not to trust him, and I guess that makes sense seeing as he tried to betray the village and all…"

"Ino, why don't you set up a meeting with Sakura sometime in the next few days," Shikamaru suggested, "and make sure you're both discreet about it."

"Sure," Ino agreed. "And I'll see if I can get anything else out of the gossip channels."

"I will see if I can find out anything from my clan, and speak to Hinata-sama further about Naruto," Neji promised.

"My allies and I shall see what other evidence can be brought to light about Naruto's situation," Shino volunteered, his swarm on insects making a faint buzzing sound within his coat.

"We should meet up here again in three days' time," Shikamaru muttered. "And I'll see if I can think of a way to talk to Naruto about this without spooking him."

With their plan of action agreed upon, the four young ninja started off on their separate ways.

"So are you in this for the gossip, Ino?" Shikamaru asked as they descended down to the streets. "I don't think Naruto would appreciate you spreading his secret to the half of the village that doesn't already know it."

"Naruto's an annoying loud-mouth, but he's not a bad kid. I want to know why all the grown-ups seem so intent on ruining his life." Ino frowned and shook her head. "I just can't imagine what he could've done to deserve being treated half as bad as he is."

"I seriously doubt that Naruto is at fault in this," Shikamaru scowled. _I really can't see him as a tiny baby raising his little arm and saying: "Please pick me to be the vessel for the Kyuubi no Yoko! Pick me!"_

* * *

Minato wanted to bang his head against his desk. Repeatedly. Maybe it would forestall the rising migraine and keep it to being just a plain old headache.

"Aburame Shino, Hyuuga Neji, Nara Shikamaru, and Yamanaka Ino," he muttered to himself.

"_Hai_, Hokage-sama," the woman ANBU needlessly confirmed.

"Did they actually guess the true fate of the Kyuubi no Yoko?" Minato asked.

"The boys only speculated that there was some kind of connection between Naruto and the events of October tenth—they never explicitly debated the nature of this connection. Ino arrived later and was never made aware of the boys' earlier musings."

Minato braced his forearms on his desk. "Do you believe they had any malicious intent behind their investigation?"

"No," the mouse-masked woman replied. "I believe their motivations are curiosity and outrage."

"Hmm…" Minato tapped a mindless pattern on his desktop. "See that an agent is in place to observe their next meeting, and Sakura's interview if it can be arranged." He waved her off. "You're dismissed."

"_Hai_!" she nodded and departed in a puff of white smoke.

Now alone in his office, Minato slumped back in his seat and sighed loudly. "Oh, what am I going to do about this?"

When he had first devised his secret law, it had partly been intended to give Naruto a childhood that was as normal as possible. The villagers who knew what had happened to the Kyuubi irrationally feared Naruto, so by keeping the younger children ignorant they wouldn't be afraid of his son and befriend him without prejudice. However, the older generations had found ways around his law and kept Naruto isolated without actually revealing the secret.

Now some of Naruto's hard-won friends had stumbled over the conspiracy that his law had made secret. Minato knew they had no malicious intent in their investigation. And he was fairly certain that most of them would take the truth about the Kyuubi fairly well to neutral. But how would Naruto take it?

_It's his secret to keep or tell, now that he knows. They are his friends…_

_Should I tell Naruto what they're doing? …He'll probably panic. He'll think that if they know, they'll join the other villagers in hating and fearing him._

_…Should I put a stop to what they're doing without telling Naruto?_

Minato groaned and massaged his throbbing forehead. _What am I going to do?_


	13. Fox of the Wind

**Chapter 12:** _  
Fox of the Wind_

"I really need a mission," Naruto decided.

Training was good. Training made him stronger. And him getting stronger meant that he was a tiny bit closer to his ultimate goal of become Hokage.

But missions were better. Missions provided practical experience. Missions built a ninja's reputation—good or bad. And missions gave ninja money to buy stuff like new kunai…or ramen.

With the fracturing of his team, he hadn't been on a single mission. Ero-Sennin hadn't recruited him for anything. Shikamaru hadn't called him up for anything. He hadn't even gotten a chance at a lousy D-rank.

He'd managed to catch Iruka-sensei the day before and his old instructor hadn't minded showing him the right way to perform the last five basic taijutsu drills. The scarred chuunin wasn't the best at teaching taijutsu (he was much better at giving informative, but boring, lectures), but Naruto managed well enough. With a lot of practice, he'd get _all_ the drills down perfect, and hopefully his overall taijutsu would get better.

It was Sunday, a lazy day for most of Konoha. For many people it was a day off, and for the Hokage it was a day of light work. His dad, however, was a workaholic and treated Sunday like any day of the work week.

So when his dad appeared as he was working through the complicated finishing stretch of the ninth basic drill, he was thoroughly surprised.

The basic drills started off fairly simple, with each subsequent drill more difficult. The ninth drill, being the second-to-last, was the second most difficult to complete without any faults. Naruto was determined to master it (and then go on the master the tenth drill), but the dizzying shift between rapid sets of punches and kicks and spins at the very end always seemed to make him fumble…

"That's the ninth drill."

"Jiji?!" Naruto squeaked, spinning (and almost falling flat on his face) to see his father standing by, watching him. "…Aren't you supposed to be working?"

"It's Sunday," his father replied.

Naruto blinked. "So?" _That never mattered before…_

"…Where did you learn the correct form of the ninth drill?"

"From Iruka-sensei," Naruto answered. "Yesterday."

His dad's reaction was…odd. He looked rather…disappointed. And maybe a little hurt.

That didn't make any sense.

_Shouldn't he be glad that he doesn't have to re-teach me those drills?_ Naruto wondered.

"Oh," the Hokage nodded dully. The man stood silent, staring off blankly to the side. "Try working through the tricky parts slowly and gradually build up the speed," he suddenly suggested, making Naruto flinch. "And try to loosen up your movements so your body flows from motion to motion."

"Um, okay." Naruto nervously scratched at his head. _Why's he being so weird?_

His dad seemed lost in thought and Naruto wasn't sure if he should bother him or not. Should he just go on and practice his taijutsu and ignore his standing there? Should he pester him about learning something new?

"Naruto, did Kakashi ever test your elemental affinity?"

Naruto jumped. "Huh? Test my what?"

"I'll take that as a no," his dad chuckled.

The Hokage turned and headed into the manor and then returned several minutes later with some paper in hand. At first Naruto thought they were slightly oversized sheets of origami paper. But they weren't colored, or pure white; they were an off-white shade. Naruto squinted at them suspiciously.

"What's that paper for?"

"These are element cards," his father grinned and handed him one of the blank pieces of paper. "It'll tell you what your element is, and then you can start learning elemental jutsu."

Naruto frowned. "So…I can only learn jutsu of one element?"

"No, with enough training a ninja can master any jutsu of the five basic elements. However, for every ninja there is one element – sometimes two – that they are naturally stronger with. Their chakra is naturally attuned to that element, allowing them to be more efficient with their chakra and produce more powerful jutsu." The Hokage tapped his chin thoughtfully for a moment. "It's like that silly saying that some commercials like to use: 'More bang for your buck' so to speak."

"Cool!" Naruto grinned. Then he squinted down at the paper in his hand. "So how does this work."

"You channel a small amount of chakra into the paper and depending on how it reacts it will reveal what element your chakra is most attuned to," his dad explained. "If the paper crumples up, it's _Raiton_. If the paper is cut in two, it's _Fuuton_. If the paper crumbles to dust, it's _Doton_. If the paper gets wet, it's _Suiton_. And if the paper catches fire—"

"It's _Katon_!" Naruto finished.

"Right," the Yondaime nodded. "Now give it a try."

Naruto scowled in concentration and focused on the paper square in his hands. It was always hard for him to judge how much chakra he was using as the Kyuubi gave him insanely huge reserves of chakra. So his idea of "a small amount of chakra" was vastly different from the average ninja's. Hopefully the paper wouldn't explode if he channeled too much into it…

The paper neatly split from the bottom to the top in a vertical line. "…Wind."

"That's a good one!" His dad sounded downright…gleeful.

"So I'm going to be good at blowing people over," Naruto frowned unenthusiastically.

"Naruto, _Fuuton_ is the best element for attacking," his father informed him.

Naruto squinted at his parent skeptically. "Really?"

"Really," the Hokage nodded. "Temari-san relies on _Fuuton_ jutsu. What did you notice from her fights in the Chuunin Exams?"

"She used her fan to blow away all of Tenten's weapons, and then knock her out. And then she blew Shikamaru around, too."

"And?" his father prompted.

Naruto frowned, puzzled. "And, what?"

"That's all you noticed?"

"…There was something else to notice?"

"Naruto…" his dad sighed. "Here"—he jammed the leftover element cards into a pocket and started off deeper into the backyard training ground—"follow me."

Naruto obediently followed, and his father led them to a clearing dotted with some widely-spaced training posts. The thick, upright logs were generally used as targets for punches and kicks, and sometimes they could be used as weapon targets. The Hokage angled himself towards a pair of posts on the opposite side of the clearing and got into a ready stance.

"Tell me, what element do _you_ think is the best for attacking?" he asked.

"_Katon_," Naruto answered automatically. Sasuke was very good with fire attacks and could hit just about anything with them. But then again, maybe _Raiton_ would've been a better answer—the _Chidori_ was a pretty nasty attack…

"Alright," his father muttered…and then performed a _Katon_ jutsu—Sasuke's favorite, the "Grand Fireball"—and hit one of the two posts with it, badly charring and half-destroying the log.

"Wow!" Naruto breathed.

"It certainly looks impressive," the Hokage agreed. "However, if you have good reflexes, it's fairly easy to dodge or block it. Fire is flashy and bright so you can see exactly where it's going."

Naruto shrugged. "I guess…"

"Now watch this." And then he cast a _Fuuton_ jutsu. A gust of wind surged towards the undamaged post—and then the log blasted into sections like it had been cut by several invisible sword blades.

The genin jumped. "Whoa!"

"_Fuuton_ jutsu may just look like gusts of wind, but they actually contain sharp blades or bursts of pressure—like invisible fists—hidden inside. Unless you can see chakra, you can't see the attack; and if you can't see the attack, you can't dodge it or block it. And that's what makes _Fuuton_ jutsu so great for attacking," his father grinned. "It's invisible."

"Awesome!" Naruto cried, bouncing in excitement. "You're going to teach me how to do that?!" he asked, pointing towards the sliced up log.

"Eventually," the Hokage smiled.

Naruto's excitement melted in confusion. "Eventually?"

"Yes, before you can really attempt any elemental jutsu, you have to learn how to mold your chakra into that element." He chuckled at Naruto's dismayed expression. "Don't worry, once you complete the elemental training for _Fuuton_, you'll be able to master any _Fuuton _jutsu. It's like how you had to learn how to gather chakra, learn all the hand seals, and then combine them for the basic Academy jutsu, or how the Academy instructors made sure you knew a few of the taijutsu drills before you and your classmates were allowed to spar with each other."

_Great_, Naruto sighed. _Hopefully this will be more fun than memorizing the hand seals or learning the Tree-Walking and Water-Walking jutsu._ "So what's this elemental training?"

"The first exercise you need to master is this…" His dad reached up into a nearby tree and plucked a leaf. "You feed your chakra into the air, focus it into the sharpest, thinnest blade that you can, and try to cut through the leaf the same way that the element card split." The leaf in his hands suddenly broke into two pieces. "If you fail to cut all the way through the leaf on the first try, get a new leaf and start over. When you can slice the leaf in half with your chakra, you can move on to the next exercise." He plucked another leaf from the tree and passed it to Naruto. "Now you try."

Naruto scowled in concentration as he tried to do what had been described to him. At first nothing seemed to happen. Then a tiny rip formed at the bottom of the leaf and slowly cut further…and then stopped. His cut was barely a centimeter long.

"Oh man!"

"That's not bad for a first try," his father reassured him and handed him another leaf. "I barely tore the leaf at all on my first attempt."

Naruto blinked. "Your first try?"

"Yes." His dad pulled one of the element cards out of his pocket and put some chakra into it, causing the paper to split in half. "Elemental affinities tend to run in families."

"Neat!"

"I'm glad you think so." The Hokage hopped into a nearby tree and settled down onto a branch. "Now why don't you get on your leaf-cutting? The sooner you master it, the sooner you can move on."

"Right!" Naruto nodded determinedly and focused on the fresh leaf in his hands. _Leaf, you are going down!_

* * *

Shikamaru slumped at a little café table next to Ino and across from Sakura. It was really troublesome, but in the long run it would be easier to be present for the interview so he could make sure that the right sort of information was obtained, and in the right way. That didn't make sitting with the two gossiping girls any less of a drag.

"So, Ino, are you and Shikamaru on a date?"

That got Shikamaru's attention. _…What?_

"We are not on a date, Forehead-girl!" Ino screeched, outraged.

"Oh." The pink-haired girl shrugged and sipped at her drink. "Well, that's the only reason I could think of for him to be hanging out here…"

"I'm hiding from my mom," Shikamaru half-lied. "She always finds such troublesome things for me to do."

"Like I'd ever date, Shika-kun!" Ino fumed. "He's so lazy! There's no way he'd ever do anything romantic unless someone made him, and that totally kills the romance of it!"

_You do wonders for my self-esteem, Ino._ Shikamaru sighed and slumped lower in his uncomfortable chair. _Good thing my plan for the future is to find a nice, un-troublesome woman…and that crosses Ino off the list right off the bat._

"Alright, alright," Sakura nodded. "I get it." She sipped at her fruit drink and studied Ino curiously. "So what is this juicy story that you promised me?"

Ino immediately launched into recounting of the clothing store incident with Naruto. Shikamaru carefully gauged Sakura's reactions as the other girl listened. Her reaction seemed to fall in line with what he expected of someone oblivious to Naruto's secret plight.

"What store is this?" Sakura frowned. "If the service is that bad there's no way I'm going to risk shopping there."

Ino gladly passed along the offending store's name, then fixed her longtime friend and rival with a curious look. "Have you ever noticed Naruto having trouble like that before?"

"No," Sakura answered. "But then again I don't go shopping with him."

"What about restaurants?" Ino asked. "Doesn't your team do team meals?"

"No," the other girl shook her head. "Naruto would always ask us to go to Ichiraku Ramen, but Sasuke-kun never wanted to, Kakashi-sensei would always disappear, and I didn't want to go with Naruto by myself—he might think it was a date."

_Huh,_ Shikamaru thought. _It seems that Team Seven was never very united, even before Sasuke went off the deep end._

"Why do you ask?" Sakura frowned.

"Well," Ino leaned in a dropped her voice. "I've been warning everyone about that shop, but whenever anyone over the age of twenty heard about it, they didn't seem surprised. Some of them even seemed to side with that nasty shopkeeper! It's like all the older people in the village are against Naruto! And seeing as you're Naruto's teammate, I was just curious to see if you'd noticed anything."

"You're exaggerating, Ino-pig!" Sakura scoffed. "Everybody over twenty hates Naruto? No way—he can't have pissed off all those people with his stupid pranks."

_Perhaps Sakura isn't the best person to ask about Naruto,_ Shikamaru reflected. _With Sasuke on her team, and Naruto as an unwanted and very persistent suitor, she would pay more attention to the Uchiha and all but ignore Naruto. She'd be too starry-eyed over Sasuke to notice any subtle discrimination towards Naruto…_

"I have a question for you," Shikamaru spoke up before Ino could get into an argument over whether or not she was exaggerating. "The way that Naruto managed to overcome Neji's technique in the Chuunin Exams intrigues me. Have you ever seen him do anything similar before or since?"

"I don't know…" Sakura chewed her lip thoughtfully. "No, I—wait… I-I think I may have seen Naruto do something like that before…maybe."

"What do you mean 'maybe'?" Ino frowned.

"It was on our mission to Wave Country—it was supposed to be a C-rank, but it got bumped up to an A-rank because the client lied and we faced a pair of dangerous missing-nins. Sasuke-kun and Naruto were trapped in this dome of ice mirrors by the younger ninja, I was protecting Tazuna the bridge-builder, and Kakashi-sensei was facing off against Momochi Zabuza, the Demon of the Mist, and one of the Seven Swordsmen. No one could really see what was going on inside the ice dome—there was too much mist on the battlefield to see much of anything, but at one point there was this strange reddish glow and surge of killer intent that kind of reminds me of what we saw Naruto do in the stadium."

She hesitated and picked nervously at her napkin. "When Kakashi-sensei noticed it, he got really nervous. And Zabuza…he said something when he noticed it—he hinted that he knew something about Naruto. That made Kakashi-sensei really upset, and he fought even harder to end the fight. …It was all really weird."

"Hm…" _Very interesting,_ Shikamaru mused. _I thought that if Naruto really does have the demon fox sealed inside of him that he really couldn't use any of its power, but maybe he can…_ "What about the fight with Gaara? What happened after I dropped out of the chase? I never did hear how that fight went."

"I really can't tell you much," Sakura reluctantly admitted. "Not long after we reached the spot where Gaara and Sasuke-kun were fighting, I got pinned to a tree by Gaara's sand and I was slowly crushed until I blacked out. But…later Sasuke-kun told me that it was _Naruto_ that beat Gaara and saved me from being crushed to death. It's hard to believe, but there's no way that Sasuke-kun would make that up." She shrugged. "I don't know the details of how it happened, though; Sasuke-kun wouldn't talk about it."

Ino gaped. "_Naruto_ beat _Gaara_?!"

"Impressive," Shikamaru remarked.

"That's insane!" Ino cried.

Sakura shrugged helplessly.

_Well, this interview doesn't seem to be a total waste,_ Shikamaru mused. _Sakura at least knows about some of Naruto's combat potential. Too bad she's oblivious to his domestic troubles with the villagers._

"I had no idea that Naruto had managed to get so strong," Ino muttered, shaking her head in disbelief. "Back in the Academy he couldn't even cast a single proper _Bunshin_, and less than a year later he beats Subaku no Gaara?!"

"It's hard for even me to believe it," Sakura confessed. "And I'm his teammate!"

"He's certainly come far," Shikamaru grunted. "But as for that goal of his—of becoming Hokage—he's got a long ways still to go…"

* * *

Naruto scowled at the leaf clutched in his hand. He'd lost count of the leaves he'd tried to split hours ago, and he could barely manage to cut halfway through. And it was getting late; the sun was starting to descend and the shadows were stretching longer and longer.

"Grr…" he growled and tossed the leaf aside, leapt up, snagged another one, and prepared to do it all over again. "One more time!"

Off to the side he could sense his father watching him. It was kind of creepy, really. His dad just sat there—he'd only left once when an ANBU had dropped by to report something… And then he'd come back.

_What's he doing?_ Naruto wondered as he shrugged his shoulders to loosen the kinks that had formed in them from hovering over leaves for hours. _He's the Hokage…doesn't he have work to do, or something?_

He shook his head and gathered his chakra yet again. _Concentrate it into a blade… Thin and sharp… And cut…!_ The slice went slightly over halfway before failing.

"Darn it!" Naruto muttered and cast the dud leaf aside…into the healthy pile of failures.

"Naruto," his father suddenly piped up. "There is a technique that you can use that might make this go faster."

"Huh?" Naruto blinked owlishly in the direction of his dad's voice, then he scowled and waved his fist. "Why did you say so before, Jiji?!"

"I hadn't thought of it until a little while ago," the Hokage admitted as he dropped down from his tree perch. "It's not something that the average ninja would do to train; it's very chakra-intensive and a little risky." The man's expression was stern. "Before I tell you about it, I want you to promise that you'll be careful and try not to push it too far. In fact, I'd prefer it if you only employed it while supervised by a jounin…but I wouldn't require it. Unless you overdo it, of course."

Naruto's excitement over this new possibility was heightened by his previous hours of frustration. "I promise, I promise! What do I have to do?"

"Tell me," his father began, "what are the uses of the _Kage Bunshin no Jutsu_?"

"It makes solid copies of the caster that can physically attack enemies or cast jutsus," Naruto answered, trying to make it sound more intelligent than: _I can make tough copies of myself to beat people up with._

"And what else?"

"Um…you can put a lot more chakra into them?" Naruto guessed. "You don't need a supply of some material—like water or sand—to make them?"

"Good answers," his dad nodded, "but not what I was looking for."

"Um…"

When Naruto couldn't answer, the Hokage sighed.

"Make a _Kage Bunshin_," his father instructed.

Naruto blinked, but did as he was told and easily produced a perfect copy of himself out of pure chakra. Then his dad did the same, producing a _Kage Bunshin_ of his own. And then the copy of his dad kidnapped the copy of himself and darted off into the dense trees.

"Huh?" Naruto frowned, puzzled.

"Just wait," his dad winked. Then it looked like he spaced out for a moment, and he asked Naruto a strange question. "Who won the coin toss?"

"You…did?" Naruto blinked, startled. _I remember a coin toss, but…we were…_

"You've been able to use this jutsu for nearly a year and you never noticed that when a clone is dispelled you receive all of its memories?"

Naruto sheepishly rubbed at the back of his head. "Uh…no?"

"Well, now you know," his dad chuckled.

"But…what does that have to do with that training trick you were going to teach me?" Naruto wondered.

"If you were to make ten clones, and then practice a technique with them for an hour, then dispel them to gain their memories…it will be like you did ten hours of training instead of just one," his father explained.

"So…I can train a whole lot more in a lot less time?"

The Hokage nodded. "Exactly."

"So if I use a lot of clones, I can figure out how to cut these stupid leaves faster!" Naruto grinned and started to gather his chakra to spawn a good hundred copies of himself.

"Try to keep the numbers down," his father cut in sternly. "If you make too many, you'll burn through your chakra too fast. And if you dispel them all at once, you risk a nasty migraine."

Naruto paused. "How many do you think I should make?"

"…Twenty is a good number."

"I can make way more than that!" Naruto scoffed.

"I know," the Hokage acknowledged. "But start off small. The more clones you make, the greater chance there is that something might go wrong."

"But—"

"Naruto, _jounin_ have trouble producing more than a handful of _Kage Bunshin _at a time. The fact that you—a _genin_—can cast even twenty and still stay standing, let alone stay _conscious_, is beyond impressive." His dad gave him a hard look. "And you did promise that you wouldn't push this too far."

Naruto pouted. "…Okay."

With a determined scowl he produced twenty _Kage Bunshin_. Before the smoke from their casting had fully cleared, they all had jumped up to take a leaf from the nearest tree. Once they all possessed the necessary leaf, they sat and concentrated.

_Leaf,_ Naruto (and all his copies) thought, _you are going down!_


	14. Secrets, Secrets Are No Fun

**Chapter 13:** _  
Secrets, Secrets Are No Fun…_

Minato munched on sushi and watched Naruto tackle the second phase of elemental training. His son had successfully completed the first phase the previous evening, just as Minato was ready to drag the boy into the house and make him go to bed. Naruto had been all for moving on to the next step right then, but Minato made him wait until the next morning.

He'd recruited Yamato for the second phase (and to make sure that Naruto didn't use too many _Kage Bunshin_ at once while Minato was at the Tower, working) and the ANBU had used his _Doton_, _Suiton_, and a little bit of his rare _Mokuton_ ability to put together a temporary waterfall. The leaf-cutting exercise had been an introduction for _Fuuton_, and a way to learn the fine control needed. Training with the waterfall would teach Naruto how to hold that control and massively increase the power and scale of his _Fuuton_ attacks.

It was his lunch break and he'd stopped by to see how things were going with Naruto. His son (and several clones) stood perched on tree branches that stretched in front of the rushing curtain of the waterfall. The boy had stripped down to his shorts to keep the spray from soaking his clothes in spite of the cooling weather.

_It'll be October in a few days,_ Minato thought as he bit into another sushi roll. _In a couple of weeks, Naruto will be thirteen. …A teenager. I swear, it wasn't that long ago that he was just three._

"People always say that kids grow up so fast," he muttered. "I used think they were exaggerating…"

"…Can I have another piece of sushi?" Yamato asked.

"Sure," Minato shrugged and let the feline-masked ANBU fish another bit of sushi roll out of the take-out bag. "Has he taken any breaks?"

"Nope." Yamato lifted his mask slightly to stuff the sushi in his mouth. "I asked him if he wanted to break for lunch a little while before you arrived, but he claimed that he wasn't really hungry yet. The little liar."

"Hmm…" Minato studied his son's back thoughtfully.

_Stubborn brat… Not that I was much different. And…Kushina…I know she was the same…if not worse. Two stubborn parents make an excessively stubborn child._

"Don't eat all my sushi," Minato warned and left his lunch with Yamato as he darted back to the house.

Upon arriving back inside, he rifled around in the kitchen cabinets for instant ramen. It wasn't very hard to find. While he didn't approve of Naruto's habit of eating ramen every day, the boy's mild obsession with the soup would be useful in this instance.

Within several minutes, he'd cooked up the ramen and carried it out to where Naruto was still trying to cut the curtain of water with his chakra. He stood underneath the branches where the Narutos were standing and watched them for a moment. The clones were definitely running out of steam—one last good try and most of them would probably drain them to the point of instability when they would poof out of existence. And then, after the next attempt, most of them did dispel…

"Hey, Naruto!" he called up, lifting the steaming ramen cup into clear view. "You sure you're not hungry?"

"Huh? …Hey, that's mine!" Naruto shouted.

"You bought it with my money," Minato countered cheerfully, and made as if to eat the cup of soupy noodles himself.

"Ramen!" Naruto cried and dropped down to snag the cup of soup. In his distraction, his last few _Bunshin_ let themselves go. "Mine!"

Minato smoothly moved the ramen out of his reach without spilling any of it. "Ah, ah! What do you say?"

"Please?" the boy pouted.

"Better," Minato nodded and let him have the cup and chopsticks.

"Thank you!" Naruto grinned and tore into the food.

"Hey slow down!" the Hokage warned. "Are you even tasting that?"

"I need to get back to training!" Naruto insisted. "I'm really close to getting it!"

"I'm sure that you are, but sometimes taking breaks can be just as important in training as exercising." He beckoned Naruto to follow and went to retrieve his sushi from Yamato's clutches. "Besides, I want to talk to you."

"About what?" Naruto asked, suddenly much more subdued.

Minato frowned a little as he settled down with his own lunch. "Can't we just talk?"

Naruto stared blankly at him. "Huh?"

_Well this is going splendidly_, Minato sighed as he chewed on more of his sushi. "I hear that you went to visit Sasuke a few days ago."

"Yeah…" The boy slumped and sipped at the broth left in the ramen cup.

"I take it that it didn't go very well."

"No." Naruto twiddled his chopsticks. "Didn't Kakashi-sensei tell you about it?"

"Sure he did," Minato nodded. "But I want to hear from you about it."

Naruto set aside his empty ramen cup and sat down on the ground. Yamato retrieved the garbage and made his exit. Minato waited for Naruto to speak up.

"I think Sasuke's gone crazy," Naruto muttered after a long pause. "He was so nasty when we went to see him, and he had all these weird ideas." He listlessly plucked at some blades of grass. "Do you think…that he'll ever get back to normal?"

"Hard to say," Minato sighed. "But I've set it up so that he'll meet with Morino Ibiki. That man is an expert on the human mind. He will know when Sasuke is ready to be a shinobi again." _If he ever is…_

"Morino Ibiki…" Naruto frowned thoughtfully. "Wasn't he the scary guy that proctored the first part of the Chuunin Exams?"

"Yes."

"Hmm…" Naruto plucked a nearby leaf from a bush, twirled it by its stem for a moment, and then split it with his chakra.

Minato smiled a little. "You've gotten very good at that."

"I still can't get the waterfall," Naruto pouted.

"That exercise is much more difficult than the leaf. In fact, most kids your age couldn't even attempt cutting a waterfall—let alone using _Kage Bunshin_ at the same time." Minato ruffled Naruto's hair. "It may not seem like it to you, but in terms of chakra and the types of jutsus you know, you're ahead of most shinobi your age."

Naruto scowled and tried to fix his hair. "But my chakra reserves…that's because of the fox, isn't it?"

"Partially," Minato conceded. "But even without the fox, your reserves are impressive. You can create more _Kage Bunshin_ at a time, more batches of them, and more easily than you could when you first learned the technique, right?"

"Yeah," Naruto nodded. "But isn't that because I have better chakra control now? That's what Ebisu was talking about…"

"That's also part of it, yes," Minato agreed. "But you definitely have built up more chakra to work with. Your Summoning training and _Rasengan_ training would definitely boost your reserves, demon fox or not."

"Okay," Naruto nodded thoughtfully.

_And now that we're on the subject…_ "You know, about the Kyuubi…you're not bound by that law. You can tell your friends about it if you want." Minato paused thoughtfully, then added: "But probably not Sasuke, yet."

"Do I have to tell them?" Naruto asked, horrified.

"No, you don't have to. I said that if you wanted to, you could." Minato internally winced at the fear on his son's face, but continued on. "And why not tell them? I think they know you well enough to not confuse you with the demon like most of the villagers do."

"No, it's not something they need to know," the boy decided. "They won't see any of the fox. And no one will really listen to Sasuke anymore. I don't think he'll even talk about it, 'cause Sasuke-teme thinks I'm a worthless wimp."

Minato thought about reminding Naruto about how in his match with Neji he'd used some of the demon's power to unseal his chakra network, and pointing out how the whole stadium (along with his friends in the audience and waiting area for other participants) had seen it—but he refrained. That would only serve to panic Naruto and perhaps make him paranoid. And judging by his reaction to the idea of confiding his secret to his friends, news that some of his friends were seeking out his secret on their own would do Naruto more harm than good.

"I'm going to go train more!" Naruto announced and was off in a flash; clearly a good deal of his energy restored by his short rest.

The Hokage sighed and watched as his son leapt back up onto his branch perch, generate another batch of _Bunshin_, and got back to trying to divide the rushing waters of the fall with his _Fuuton_ chakra.

_You should have more faith in your friends, Naruto._ Minato sighed and stuffed the last bit of sushi into his mouth. _I think they'll surprise you…_

* * *

Shikamaru sat on one side of a shogi board, considering his strategy. On the other side sat his squad's jounin-sensei, Sarutobi Asuma. Asuma-sensei had been busy lately, and this was the first time since Shikamaru's promotion to chuunin that they had the time to sit down for a game together.

His sensei looked a little haggard, but he was still sharp on his game. That didn't mean that Asuma-sensei would win. It just meant that his chain-smoking instructor would give him a good game.

"Are you going to make a move anytime today?" Asuma asked.

"Troublesome," Shikamaru muttered and shifted one of his pieces.

Asuma took a drag of his cigarette and studied the altered board. "Hmm…"

Even though Asuma had never won a game of shogi against him, Shikamaru still held his sensei in high esteem. The man was an experienced jounin and a son of the deceased Sandaime Hokage to boot. He knew not only how the ninja world worked on the battlefield, but how it worked behind the scenes in the hidden villages—where ninja philosophies and traditions met with politics.

"Sensei?"

"Yes?" Asuma muttered, a finger hovering indecisively over a game tile.

"What's your assessment of Uzumaki Naruto?"

At first his sensei didn't answer. The older ninja decided on his next move, made it, and took a hard drag on his cigarette. He stroked his neatly trimmed beard and took another good hit from his cancer stick before giving his opinion.

"Uzumaki Naruto…an interesting kid, to say the least. From what I know, he failed the Genin Exam three times before graduating at the bottom of your class. He was put on Team Seven with Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura under the leadership of Hatake Kakashi. He's been credited with nearly fifty D-rank missions, a C-rank which was upgraded to an A-rank, and two B-rank missions. He survived the first two phases of the Chuunin Exams, defeated Inuzuka Kiba and Akamaru in the preliminaries, and Hyuuga Neji in the final phase of the Exam. He was part of the team sent to assist Uchiha Sasuke in subduing Subaku no Gaara during the attack, and more recently a part of your team to retrieve Uchiha Sasuke before he could defect to Orochimaru. It's also been rumored that he assisted Jiraiya of the Sannin in returning Senju Tsunade to the village, and he may have received training from the Sannin.

"All-in-all, a very interesting kid indeed."

Shikamaru considered all the information, then studied the board, and made his next move before continuing the conversation. "I know about the C-rank gone A, but what about his two B-ranks?"

"Your retrieval mission was officially labeled a B-rank," Asuma replied and studied Shikamaru's move.

"And the other?"

Asuma took one last drag of his cigarette, put out the stub, and moved his next piece. "Why the interest?"

"I've been finding out some interesting things about him lately, and I'm curious." Shikamaru idly studied the board and weighed his sensei's move. "The more that I learn about him, the more effectively I'll be able to work with him in the future, don't you think?"

The jounin was quiet for several minutes, before extracting a fresh cigarette from one of his pockets and lighting up again. "I don't know much about his other B-rank—just that it's his first credited mission, completed before he was even assigned to Team Seven; and that he helped uncover a traitor within the Academy chuunin instructors."

That answer managed to freeze even Shikamaru's brain for a good minute. "A traitor among the Academy instructors?"

"Yes," Asuma nodded. "It was kept quiet. Very quiet. Even though it was recorded as a B-rank, the file on it is kept under near S-rank restriction. I barely have the clearance necessary to read it."

Shikamaru's mind was racing so hard he was risking losing his shogi game. Every time he had the feeling that he had a good idea about Naruto's background, some new snarl blind-sided him. First Naruto was the hidden-in-plain-sight son of the Hokage, then he was the victim of some mysterious and hateful conspiracy, then he was the potential host of a demon that was supposed to be dead, then he took down Subaku no Gaara with apparently no assistance from any of his teammates, and now he'd taken down a traitor under highly mysterious circumstances before officially becoming a ninja. What was going to be next?

With a grunt of annoyance, Shikamaru wrestled his mind back to his game long enough to determine his next move. Then he swung back to the Academy traitor and slipped into his thinking stance. Who was the traitor? He was limited by the fact that he didn't know all the instructors in the Academy, but maybe…

"I think the traitor likely was Mizuki-sensei," Shikamaru decided just as Asuma decided on his response to Shikamaru's last move. "He always seemed bored with his position as Academy-sensei and disappeared with no explanation on the day of team assignments. As far as I am aware, he no longer teaches there, and hasn't been seen since."

"Good guess," Asuma grumbled. "Mizuki was a former student of Orochimaru. It was believed that he was loyal to Konoha. That belief turned out to be incorrect. Whether or not he leaked information to Orochimaru or not is unknown. He's been taken care of. You won't be seeing him again."

Shikamaru eyed Asuma's move on the board. He'd lost a tile. It wasn't a terribly important one, but he hadn't meant to lose it yet.

"A very thorough assessment," Shikamaru remarked and captured one of his sensei's pieces. "And what's your personal opinion on Naruto?"

"…From what I can tell, he's a goofball, a class clown, but unpredictable with some real talent and a good chunk of power to throw around. He's loyal, determined, and on his way to being a good ninja. I don't know about actually achieving that high goal he's set for himself, but I think he has a chance." Asuma took a long drag on his cigarette and slowly blew out a stream of smoke. "This whole conversation on Naruto… You're digging for something, aren't you? What is it?"

"Any information I can find," Shikamaru answered.

"That's a very wide net," Asuma frowned. "Your search has to be narrower than that."

Shikamaru glanced down at the shogi board. "Are you going to make a move, sensei?"

Asuma kept his gaze fixed on Shikamaru. "What are you digging for, Shikamaru?"

"…I started chasing down a secret that no one seems to know, and found a secret that everyone except the younger generation knows." Shikamaru met his teacher's stare, unflinching. "I think I know what the secret is—"

"Who told you?" Asuma demanded.

The Nara blinked at his sensei's strained tone. "Naruto did…unintentionally."

"Explain." His tone was uncharacteristically cool.

"The day before the final round of the Chuunin Exams, Naruto and I confronted Gaara in Rock Lee's hospital room. Naruto…implied that he had something that would prevent Gaara from killing him. Then Gaara goes on to tell us the basics of his life story and, I believe, reveals himself to be 'similarly equipped.' I didn't think much of it at the time—I was more focused on keeping us from getting killed. But looking back on it, and combining it with more recently acquired information, I believe my theory fits the facts."

Asuma took a distracted puff of his cigarette. "Damn it, you're too smart for your own good," he grunted. "Even if you told me your theory, I can't confirm it if it's right or deny it if it's wrong." He took a long drag of nicotine and tapped some of the ashes off the end. "You need to stop digging. You're not going to find anything, and you risk getting into deadly serious trouble."

"Serious trouble, I figured," Shikamaru grunted. "But deadly?"

"If you persist, it could very well be deadly," Asuma warned. "Konohagakure is a hidden ninja village—a military village, not a civilian village. When certain laws are broken, the consequences can be severe."

"What law?" the Nara boy blinked. "There's a law that forbids asking around about Naruto's background?"

"Officially, there isn't."

Shikamaru narrowed his eyes. "Officially?"

His sensei sighed, blowing some smoke from his nose. "The ninja world is one full of secrets and lies. To protect a ninja village, there sometimes needs to be laws that are never written down—laws that can be denied to outsiders, but enforced within the village. …Sometimes, such laws are only known to certain portions of the village." Asuma abruptly made a move on the shogi board, then added: "Violating such laws borders on treason and is punished accordingly."

The chuunin stared at the game board for a long time, then captured one of his teacher's tiles. "Who has the authority to declare such a law? The village council? A ninja clan?"

"The council and ninja clans can petition for such laws, but only the Hokage has the authority to enact it." Asuma sighed at the sight of his burned-down cigarette. "I need some sake," he muttered to no one in particular.

Shikamaru digested all of this, and sighed deeply. "Man, what a drag…"

And then he packed it all away in the back of his mind and put his full attention on the game at hand, because he wasn't about to lose…

* * *

Hinata quietly picked her way through the woods in the gray predawn hours, a basket dangling from her hand. She was on the hunt for herbs to use in her medicinal concoctions and the odd flower to press and preserve for her collection. But her mind wasn't entirely focused on her task.

Her thoughts were consumed with the terrible information that Ino-san had told her several days earlier—the way that many villagers reacted to hearing of Naruto-kun's unfair treatment at the store. It brought to mind the way that most of the instructors back in the Academy had always seemed to pick on him. And then Neji-nii-san had practically interrogated her about anything she'd ever noticed about Naruto-kun's treatment by the villagers.

_Something's very wrong. Why do so many people seem to hate Naruto-kun? It doesn't make any sense. He's a good person, and a determined ninja—he'll be Hokage one day!_

She frowned worriedly as she paused by a clump of plants to collect a few to add to her basket. There was no reason that she could fathom for Naruto-kun to receive the treatment that he did. Personally, she thought he was a ninja to be admired. He worked so hard and never gave up, no matter how many times he failed, and he always kept his word.

_I want to help Naruto-kun…but how?_

Perhaps…if she could gather the nerve, she could spend more time with him in public places. The Hyuuga clan held a great deal of respect and prestige, and people paid great attention to what they did, where they shopped, who they associated with… If they saw her friendly with Naruto-kun, maybe they would treat him more kindly.

_And if I spend more time with Naruto-kun, he might notice me more…and…and…_

Her mind spiraled off into daydreams starring herself and Naruto. He would notice her, think she was pretty, decided to kiss her… Hinata's cheeks flamed and her pale eyes glazed over as her hopeless fantasies progressed towards the point when she and Naruto might marry.

The cry of a startled bird jolted her out of her daze.

_I…I'm being silly!_ she chastised herself. _That won't happen. Naruto-kun loves Sakura-san… He would never look at me like that._

Her mood once more bleak, she reapplied herself to her task. But as she knelt at the base of a tree to examine a cluster of small white flowers, she suffered the prickly sensation of being watched. It was a common sensation for a Hyuuga; their kekkei genkai allowed them to watch people (family members included) from great distances, and even through walls. However, this time the sensation felt particularly threatening and unfriendly.

_It's too quiet,_ she realized, subtly glancing around. _The sun is starting to rise, so where is all the birdsong? And the insects? I can barely hear them…_

"Hello?" she called out softly.

She was out in the woods, but still well within the realm of Konohagakure. Maybe her watcher was a fellow Konoha-nin, like an ANBU. Or even a civilian, someone lost or a drunkard who'd slept off his excesses in the woods.

There was no response.

Hinata chewed at her lower lip and raised her shaking hands to start forming seals to activate her Byakugan while she remaining kneeling by the tree. With her kekkei genkai active, she would be able to see in all directions and through the screens of vegetation. Any stalkers would be revealed and she wouldn't even have to raise her head to look around…

A twig snapped.

She jolted upright and started to turn—

A sharp blow to the back of her head—

Blackness…


	15. Coveted Blood

**Chapter 14:** _  
Coveted Blood_

Naruto burst out his front door, sucked in a deep breath, and ran through a few quick stretches. He'd get the waterfall conquered today, no doubt about it! If he hadn't run out of chakra the previous day (…and then passed out) he would've managed it then. But now he was recharged and ready to cut the water and master his elemental training.

"Alright," he growled in determination and started to jog around the house to the waterfall Yamato had made, "time to get started!"

"Where are you going?"

The whiskered boy paused and turned to see Shikamaru leaning against the front gate to the manor. "Oh, hey Shikamaru!" Naruto waved and jogged over to the chuunin. "What's up?"

"Just thought we could hang out some, and maybe we could see if we could get a D-rank to do later. With Chouji still out, our squads got an open spot." Shikamaru yawned. "You interested?"

Naruto considered this for a moment. He could stay here and train by himself with only a silent ANBU shadow for company. Or he could spend some time with Shikamaru, get a mission, and then train later. Have some fun, or just work hard?

"Okay!" Naruto grinned and straightened his hitae-ate a little. "So where are we gonna go?"

"Someplace that isn't troublesome," Shikamaru muttered and started to walk off. "There's a rooftop I like to visit; it's got a great view of the clouds… Nice and quiet."

"Eh?" Naruto wrinkled his nose as he started to follow. _Maybe this wasn't such a good idea…_

"I have a shogi board stashed up there," Shikamaru continued. "Maybe I'll be able to teach you how to play it right."

"Okay…" Naruto pouted, his excitement rapidly waning.

"Think of it as training for your brain," the Nara suggested. "If you really want to be a chuunin, you need to learn how to make advance plans instead of rushing in and making up things as you go along. To really do well at shogi, you need to plan several moves in advance and have a strategy, so it's good practice for making plans and strategies for other things."

Naruto thoughtfully scratched at the back of his head. "…I guess that makes sense."

"And it's even more important if you're serious about achieving the office of Hokage," Shikamaru added. "You need to have a sharp mind and be able to make flexible strategies for deploying various ninja forces, dealing with civilian groups, and negotiating with foreign countries. Being Hokage isn't just about being the strongest ninja, you also have to be clever."

"…I know," Naruto huffed. _I was going to worry about getting smarter a bit later…like after I made chuunin and was pretty good at blowing stuff up and kicking serious butt._ "Hey, Shikamaru, when I make Hokage you can be my advisor to make sure I don't do anything stupid!"

"Eh?" Shikamaru squinted at him. "Troublesome… You want me to do all your thinking for you, is that it?"

"No, no, of course not!" Naruto snorted. "You'd just be like a back-up; I'd totally do all my thinking myself! Wouldn't it be a lot more troublesome if I got to be Hokage and then made a mistake that no one caught?"

"That would be a real drag," Shikamaru muttered. "I suppose I'll be your advisor… You'd better listen to me, though; it's too troublesome to repeat things."

"Cool, thanks!" Naruto grinned widely. He glanced around at the buildings around them. "Are we there yet?"

"Troublesome kid…"

"Hey!" Naruto squawked.

"Do you always have to be talking?" Shikamaru complained. "Didn't your dad ever teach you how important it is for a shinobi to be quiet? Or better yet, to listen?"

Naruto stumbled. No one ever mentioned his dad—well, no one who wasn't ANBU—because everyone _knew_ that he was an orphan, or _knew_ that he was the Kyuubi incarnate, and therefore had no father. It was pretty weird to have someone so casually mention his parent.

"He might've mentioned it before, but I don't really remember," Naruto shrugged.

"He should've said it more than once; he should tell it to you as many times as it takes for it to stick."

Naruto scowled. "My dad's really busy. He doesn't have much time to spend with me."

"Oh?" Shikamaru raised an eyebrow. "He can't make time to hang out with you?"

"His work is too important, and he's always got so much to do…"

"Hmph," the chuunin snorted. "I'm sure that he's very busy, but even he can take a day off every now and then, can't he?"

"No, of course not." Naruto folded his arms over his chest and glared at his friend. "C'mon Shikamaru! Can't we talk about something else? Like…like…"

"Your birthday?" Shikamaru suggested blandly. "Isn't that coming up sometime soon?"

Naruto had to take a moment to think about that. "Yeah…it is."

"So what are planning to do for your birthday?" Shikamaru asked boredly.

"…Nothing."

"What do you mean 'nothing'?"

Naruto shrugged. "I just stay home."

Shikamaru frowned. "No party, no presents?"

"I get some presents, but no party." Naruto wrinkled his nose. "The tenth of October isn't a good day for a party." _Especially not for me._

"Troublesome," Shikamaru grunted. "The Kyuubi Festival is a party, and it's on the tenth."

Naruto shrugged again. "That's an exception, I guess."

"You guess?" Shikamaru glanced curiously at him. "Have you ever gone to it?"

"Once." Naruto stared at his shoes as he walked. "When I was three, I think."

He barely remembered it now. Dog—Kakashi had taken him to the festival for his birthday. A group of drunks had started it, and every adult close enough to see what was going on joined in soon after. A small riot exploded in that district and it took nearly an hour for ANBU to subdue it. Several buildings had been damaged and it cost the village over a hundred thousand Ryo to clean it up.

His dad had suggested that he not go to the festival again until he was a few years older. That suggestion hadn't been necessary. Naruto had never gone back and doubted that he ever would. He still sometimes had nightmares about shadowy, faceless crowds reaching for him, throwing glass bottles at him, and screaming: _"Kill it! Monster! Kill it!"_

"And you never attended again?"

"I didn't like it." Naruto laced his fingers behind his head and stuck his nose in the air. "I'd rather stay home."

"…If you change your mind, you could always go with us," Shikamaru offered. "Chouji probably won't be well enough to go, and I'd like to have some other company besides Ino."

"Thanks Shikamaru, but I think I'll stay home." Naruto flashed his friend a goofy grin. "Maybe I'll do something crazy, like read a book!"

"Naruto…" Shikamaru groaned. He opened a nondescript building door that revealed a stairwell, then glanced back at his former classmate. "We wouldn't let anyone mess with you at the festival. Ino really has this thing when people get harassed on their birthdays."

Naruto felt a sliver of unease start to fester in the pit of his stomach. "Why would anyone mess with me?"

"I dunno," the chuunin shrugged. "But I've noticed that a lot of people seem to make sure that you get a raw deal."

The unease filled his stomach and crept up his back, making his skin prickle. "You're seeing things!" Naruto scoffed.

Shikamaru sighed loudly. "Troublesome…"

Naruto glanced around, trying to keep his cool. "So…are we there yet?"

"Almost—"

"Shikamaru-san! Naruto-san!"

Naruto turned to see Neji approaching them. The Hyuuga prodigy looked tired and worried, and his stride still stiff from his previous injuries. When he reached them, his pale skin almost looked gray and he was sweating a bit.

"Have either of you seen Hinata-sama today?"

"Nope," Naruto shrugged.

"No," Shikamaru frowned. "Why?"

"Hinata-sama left the compound early this morning to gather plants from the forest. She has no returned for her _Juuken_ training and Hiashi-sama assigned me the task of locating her," Neji explained. "I cannot locate her with my Byakugan. I have been asking others to see if they have seen her running other errands in the village, but no one has seen her. I would perform a search of the forest myself, but I am not yet fully recovered."

"Who did you ask so far?" Shikamaru inquired.

"Ino-san and Tenten," the Hyuuga answered. "They have gone to check other areas of the village."

Naruto shifted uneasily. "What should we do, Shikamaru?"

The chuunin closed his eyes in thought for a moment before deciding. "We go see Shino. Team Eight is a reconnaissance and tracking team, and since Hinata is missing, and Kiba and Akamaru aren't in much better shape than Neji, Shino will have to be our tracker."

"Should we tell anyone about this?" Naruto asked as they all set out in search of Shino.

"Not yet," Shikamaru replied. "Hinata may just have gotten to deep into the woods for Neji to see and hurt her ankle or something. But if we find signs of foul play, we'll send word back and start our pursuit. If she was taken, those responsible have several hours lead on us and we can't afford to delay or wait for some team of other ninja to assemble."

"Right," Naruto agreed, finding the plan sound. _I hope Hinata's okay…_

* * *

Shikamaru couldn't muffle the weary sigh the seeped out of him when they found Hinata's basket overturned in the woods, and the ground around it disturbed by at least two sets of footprints, maybe more. Hyuuga Hinata had been abducted, no doubt about it. It was a most troublesome development, to say the least.

"Neji, head back to the village and let them know what we've found," Shikamaru ordered. "The rest of us will go on in pursuit. Shino, take point and lead the way. Ino, you follow behind me. Naruto, Tenten, you follow Ino side-by-side and up a branch. We don't know who we're dealing with or how many, and we're almost half a day behind, so let's get going."

There were various responses of acknowledgement and they were off and flying through the tree branches.

He wished he could keep Neji. The Hyuuga's eyes were incredibly useful in detecting traps, tracking and spying on the enemy from a distance, and keeping guard against ambushes. But Neji was not recovered from the mission to retrieve Uchiha Sasuke. If Shikamaru had kept him, he would slow them down and be a potential liability in battle. He better served them by alerting the village that Hyuuga Hinata had been taken.

Shino was a handy ninja to have on the team. He was intelligent, level-headed, and his clan techniques with his insects were devastating. And he was essential to tracking Hinata. As a member of her team, he had "bugged" her (as well as Kiba, Akamaru, and Kurenai) with a female beetle, and his male beetles would be able to track the female (and therefore Hinata) no matter where it went.

Ino was not ideal, but she was one of his teammates so he could work with her well enough. So long as she didn't try to buck his authority, she would be a real asset. With her Yamanaka clan abilities, she could sow confusion among their enemies or even possess the enemy who had possession of Hinata and spirit her away while the rest of the team distracted the other enemies—evidence indicated at least two foes to deal with.

Tenten was something of an unknown. He'd seen her fight Temari of Suna in the preliminaries of the Chuunin Exam, and lose. She was very handy with weapons and possessed a wide variety and large amount of them. As an offensive player, she was good for the team, but he didn't have the best grasp of her personality and fighting strategies.

Naruto was practically perfect for this mission. Not only did he have some experience in retrieving a comrade from enemy forces, he had been a member of the "Sasuke retrieval squad"—he was the only one aside from Shikamaru from that mission who was fit for active duty. And in addition to that, he was strong and possessed at least two high level jutsu in his arsenal: the highly useful and flexible _Kage Bunshin no Jutsu_, and that strange destructive chakra orb that he'd glimpsed once.

_Troublesome,_ Shikamaru groused as he followed behind Shino. _Whoever they are picked the best time to strike. Konoha is still stretched thin from the Sand-Sound strike and I'm sure that security patrols have more holes than Swiss cheese to take advantage of. And from my previous retrieval squad, only Naruto is fit to fight. Chouji, Kiba and Akamaru, and Neji can't fight, and Rock Lee is off training with Gai-sensei. This is such a drag…_

"Hey, Shikamaru," Ino called from behind him. "Why do you think anyone would want to kidnap Hinata?"

"The possibilities are nearly endless," Shikamaru sighed. "But the most likely one is that her abduction is revenge against the Hyuuga clan, or one Hyuuga in particular. Or they are after the Byakugan."

"When I fought Neji in the final round of the Exams, he said that a Kumo-nin tried to kidnap Hinata when she was three," Naruto yelled from behind. "Her dad killed the kidnapper, but that made Kumogakure mad and they threatened to go back to war unless he was sacrificed to them to make up for it. So they sent Neji's dad instead, because they were identical twins and he had the Caged Bird seal to seal away his Byakugan when he died."

"That certainly gives Kumo a good motive to make another attempt," Shikamaru mused. "But we don't know for sure. The Hyuuga clan must have a lot of enemies, and there are a lot of people who would desire the power of the Byakugan. Until we see who we're dealing with, we assume nothing."

Silence fell between them all as they rushed onwards, desperately seeking Hinata and her captors.

_I hope this mission doesn't turn out like the last one,_ the Nara boy thought. _I'd rather not have to sacrifice friend after friend… I swore that I would do better._

* * *

It was late in the afternoon when they caught up with their foes. The kidnappers had stopped by a stream to rest, get a drink, and munch on some dried snacks to keep their energy up. They were cocky, or maybe lazy, because they hadn't left a single trap to slow pursuers or alert them that they were about to be attacked. Chasing them down had been so easy that they had nearly overshot their enemies…

They were Kumo-nin, and there were four of them: three males and one female. The male ninja were older teenagers, almost full-grown men. The female was younger than her comrades, but older than any of Konoha-nin secretly pursuing her. All four were most likely chuunin-level; the male ninjas could even be near jounin-level. They sat clustered around a Hinata-sized burlap sack that lay crumpled ominously still.

Naruto wanted to do something. Hinata was a nice girl. She had always been nice to him, tried to help him, gave him medicinal cream, gave him that flower, found him new clothes… So what if she was timid and had some weird fainting condition? She was a good person with a good heart and strong spirit. She didn't deserve to be kidnapped.

The injustice of it all ate away at him and he could feel the fox beginning to stir in the pit of his stomach, but he sat back and waited for Shikamaru to give him the go. Shikamaru was smart, he had led the mission to catch Sasuke, and he was the chuunin. Naruto respected him and would obey.

He still wanted to jump down there and pummel those jerks into next week, though.

"I still say we should've laid down some traps, just as a precaution," the blonde Kumo-kunoichi complained quietly.

"There's no need to be wasting our supplies just yet," one of the Kumo shinobi, a lanky fellow with stringy brown hair and a gray trench coat, grunted.

"And besides," another one, a beefy black-haired shinobi with a scar on his chin, snorted. "No one's gonna miss her. All the information that we have is that she's a failure, a disgrace. They won't notice she's gone until it's too late. That Neji kid is much more valuable to them."

Naruto bit the inside of his cheek to keep from shouting profanity at them and tasted some blood when he bit down too hard.

"We've lingered here long enough," the third shinobi, a dark-skinned teen with square-lensed sunglasses hiding his eyes, growled. "Tetsu, Ryoga, shut up and get on your feet. Yugito, you carry our prize to the border. We will not rest until we're safely back in the Land of Lightning."

The four-man squad moved to leave their resting spot and Naruto tensed. He watched as the kunoichi hefted the Hinata-sack over her shoulders and unhappily waited. The Kumo-nin started to form up, and the kunoichi hesitated. She stood still just long enough to attract attention from her teammates, then she seemed to shake it off.

"We should've set traps," she informed them. "We're being pursued. Someone just tried to possess me."

Naruto's eyes widened. _Crud! Ino messed up!_

"What do you mean?" Sunglasses demanded sharply.

"Someone—a girl—tried to get inside my mind and possess my body," Yugito replied. "Nibi kicked her out."

_Nibi?_ Naruto blinked. _Two tails? What is she talking about?_

"Ryoga, take the prize," Sunglasses snapped. "Yugito, stay back and deal with them."

"How?" she asked as the big muscle-y nin took Hinata from her.

"This is Konoha we're dealing with," Sunglasses reminded her. "Not long ago they defeated a demon. Make it look like their demon host snapped and did it."

Naruto's blood turned to ice. _Blame it…on me?!_

"Understood," she nodded sharply as her three comrades prepared to leave her behind.

A sharp whistle cut through the trees and Naruto started, almost missing the cue. He locked his hands into his favorite seal and generated a batch of twenty _Kage Bunshin_. The batch of twenty split into four groups of five, each cluster attacking a different Kumo-nin. Normally Naruto would've gone with them, but he held back this time. He didn't want to get hit by friendly fire, and he was still reeling from being named the scapegoat for the future killing of his friends.

_They want to blame it on me?_

As his clones closed the gap on the startled Kumo-nin, hazy dark tendrils of Shino's kikai beetles struck out at them from a second angle. And from a third, a veritable rain of shuriken and senbon needles burst from Tenten's position. The sudden and overwhelming attack made them leap back in disarray, hurling weapons wildly…and landed right in the grasp of Shikamaru's shadows.

"What the hell?!" Trench Coat snarled. "Why can't I move?!"

"Stuff it, Tetsu!" Sunglasses hissed.

"Taro!" the strongman—Ryoga—whined. "I thought nobody was supposed to miss the girl!"

"It seems that we were unlucky," Sunglasses—Taro—replied smoothly.

Naruto dropped from the trees just as Shino was plucking the bagged Hinata from Ryoga's shoulder. Tenten remained hidden up in the trees, but shifted to a different vantage point, just in case. Shikamaru kept the Kumo-nin paralyzed with his _Kagemane_ while he stayed out of sight behind some bushes. Ino was probably with him.

"You miscalculated," Shino chided them as he backed away with the sack containing Hinata in his grasp. "You incorrectly assumed that Hinata would not be missed or pursued vigorously."

"You're just a bunch of kids, aren't you?" Taro observed. "You won't be catching us by surprise again."

"You won't be doing anything!" Naruto snapped, jabbing his finger at the frozen Kumo-nin. "We caught you!"

"Have you now?" Taro sneered. "Yugito!"

The blonde kunoichi's chakra spiked so high a shimmering blue haze seeped out of her skin and the air started to swirl around her. The tendril of shadow that linked her to Shikamaru wavered, distorted, and snapped. And then she was a blur of motion, destroying all fourteen of Naruto's surviving _Kage Bunshin_, knocking Naruto back into a tree trunk, and then blasting into the brush to attack Shikamaru—which freed the other three Kumo-nin.

The Kumo shinobi immediately lunged for Shino, intent on reclaiming their kidnap victim. Naruto staggered to his feet and cast ten more _Kage Bunshin_ to help Shino—and then was promptly hit in the back of the head by the insanely fast kunoichi. His clones barely did any good; she burst them all in seconds and then worked on dodging and drawing Tenten's endless fire of throwing weapons.

Shino tried to protect himself with his insects, but the Kumo-nin struck back with electrical _Raiton _attacks. They fended off his swarm and one managed to scrape Shino with a glancing blow that numbed his leg and made him stumble. They got Hinata away from him and immediately turned tail for the border of Lightning Country.

"Remember, Yugito!" Taro shouted as the Kumo trio bounded off into the treetops. "Make sure you get them all, and make sure it looks like Konoha's Jinchuuriki did it!"

"_Hai_!" she barked and flung a kunai with an explosive tag tied to the handle at Tenten's position, forcing her to leap out of her leafy perch or be blown away.

Naruto staggered to his feet and rubbed at his head, trying to get the ringing out of his ears. Nearby, Shino crouched defensively, his numb leg tucked underneath him, and his swarm swirled around him in a humming cloud. Tenten whipped out one of her large storage scrolls, ready to fling even more sharp steel at her foe. Shikamaru stumbled out of the brush with Ino's help; his arm had a slash in it and looked barely usable.

Yugito crouched across the small clearing from them, her mouth set in a grim line and more kunai gripped in one hand, equipped with explosive tags. Her strange shimmering chakra still flickered over her body and seemed to tug at the bandages wrapped around her long ponytail. She was like a wildcat, ready to pounce and just waiting patiently for the right opening.

"Be careful," Ino warned. "When I tried to get into her head, something stopped me. It was like…a giant cat made of blue fire. It tried to _eat_ me!"

Naruto's eyes widened. _…What?_

"It's a pity that Nibi didn't succeed," Yugito remarked regretfully. Her killing intent, which was already strong, surged to almost overwhelming, and the chakra around her thickened. She bared her teeth (now obviously pointed and fang-like) in a feral snarl. "But now I will kill you for sure. All of you. There must be no witnesses…"

"Who is this girl?" Shikamaru wondered.

"More like _what_ is she?" Tenten muttered, and retrieved a sickle blade connected to a long chain from a scroll.

Naruto felt ice prickling at his spine. _Is she…like Gaara?_

_Is she like me?_


	16. Nibi no Nekomata

**Chapter 15**_  
Nibi no Nekomata_

When Ino had failed to possess the Kumo kunoichi, Shikamaru got a real bad feeling about how things were going to turn out. It only intensified when Ino relayed to him exactly how she'd been foiled. And then the enemy kunoichi had managed to overpower his _Kagemane_ with just her chakra and land at least one hit on nearly every member of his team without even working up a sweat.

_Troublesome,_ Shikamaru winced as his bleeding arm protested. _This is really, really bad…_

"Naruto, show her how many _Bunshin_ you can make," Shikamaru commanded.

"_Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu_!" Naruto howled.

Shikamaru expected roughly the same number of clones that Naruto had been able to produce in one shot as during his fight with Neji: fifty at most. Naruto easily generated four times that—a good _two_ _hundred_ copies. …That was a lot of Naruto.

"Get her!" Naruto ordered, and wave after wave of _Bunshin_ lunged at her.

Under the cover of this very effective distraction, Shikamaru had his team withdraw to a safer distance so that they could plan without being overheard or attacked. Ino worked on wrapping his arm with bandages in spite of her trembling fingers. Shino rubbed at his tingling leg. Tenten clutched her chain and sickle with a death grip. And Naruto just sat by looked rather freaked out.

Clenching his teeth, Shikamaru closed his eyes and started running through the scenarios. Distantly he could hear the pops as _Bunshin_ after _Bunshin_ was destroyed, but he tuned that out. He needed to find a solution—preferably one that didn't involve him sacrifice teammate after teammate like the last time…

He opened his eyes and turned to Naruto. "Can your clones carry a message back to the village?"

"It's a bit far, their chakra might not last…" Naruto squirmed a little, and then seemed to get an idea. He bit into the pad of his thumb, made a few hand seals, and slammed his hand onto the branch next to him. "_Kuchiyose no Jutsu_!"

There was a puff of white smoke, and then an orange-ish toad wearing a blue vest appeared. "Hi!"

"Hey Gamakichi!" Naruto grinned. "We need you to carry a message back to the village! I'll give you a box of Pocky if you do it."

"Two boxes and you've got a deal," Gamakichi demanded.

"Fine," Naruto huffed. "Shikamaru, what's the message?"

Shikamaru's eyebrow rose. _When the hell did he get a Summoning Contract?_ "Hyuuga Hinata has been kidnapped by four Kumo-nin. The Kumo kunoichi seems to have a strange sort of chakra and apparently has some kind of cat monster in her mind that she calls 'Nibi.' All our opponents are chuunin-level or higher, and we need any kind of back-up that we can get as soon as possible."

"You got all that Gamakichi?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah," the toad nodded. "Which way's your village?"

"That way!" Naruto gestured.

The toad leapt off in the indicated direction. "You'd better have those snacks ready for me!"

"Now what?" Naruto asked as the Summon vanished from sight.

"Now I need you to keep her busy while the rest of us chase down the other Kumo-nin," Shikamaru sighed, swallowing a bitter feeling of déjà vu. "If you think you can handle it."

Naruto looked worried. "I don't know if—"

"You don't have to beat her, just keep her focused entirely on you—lead her away from us and her comrades. What we need is a decoy. Can you lead her on a wild goose chase?" Shikamaru asked.

"Sure, I—" Naruto's eyes grew unfocused for a second. "Crap, she blasted all my _Bunshin_!" And then he sprinted off to play decoy for them.

Shikamaru sighed. "Alright, let's make a wide arc around this area as fast as possible, and then get back on Hinata's trail."

As they got under way again—slower this time because of Shino's half-numb leg and Shikamaru's arm—Tenten quietly voiced a question.

"Do you really think that Naruto can stand up to that girl?"

"If any of us can handle her, Naruto can," Shikamaru replied. _If he's careful… But since when is he ever careful? …Troublesome._

* * *

Naruto was starting to get tired. This girl was insane! The only way to make his _Bunshin_ last more than a minute was to generate a lot of them at a time so that they could retreat under cover and pull off guerrilla strikes against her before she blew them all away at once. And even with all his chakra, not even he could keep up making so many _Kage Bunshin_ at a time for long.

_At least I've managed to lead her away,_ he thought, trying to catch his breath as he took cover behind some leafy branches. _And everyone should be far enough away by now… It should be safe to use it. I can't hold off any longer anyway._

Clenching his teeth, he reached deep inside himself and "beneath" his chakra to grasp something else. It was hard to grasp, it tried to slip through his fingers and hide from him, but he wouldn't let it. Fire filled his veins and his weariness evaporated in the rush of borrowed strength. His fingernails lengthened into sharp talons, his teeth were now fangs, and all his senses were several times sharper.

Now he had a real chance of going toe-to-toe with this girl.

Sifting through the memories of his most recently destroyed _Bunshin_, he locked on to her general location and moved there at top speed. Moving at a blur, he blew by her and managed to land a smack to the back of her head, returning the favor from earlier. Then he darted out of her reach and took cover in some leaves, snickering.

"Gotcha, gotcha!" he laughed and shifted positions so she couldn't track him by his voice. "You can't catch me!"

"…You've gotten faster," Yugito remarked, unfazed by his taunting. "What else have you been holding back on?"

"Catch me and see, slowpoke!" Naruto cried, twisting aside as his foe flung a trio of shuriken in his direction.

He dropped down from the branches and found some nice moist mud. Snagging a nice handful of it, he lined himself up for another pass at the older blonde girl. When she turned enough to give him a good target, he blurred by again, smashing the mud into her hair as he went by and then diving back under cover.

"Mud…" she sniffed. "How childish. Are you really a ninja?"

Naruto ground his teeth. _I'm supposed to be the one pissing her off! Not the other way around!_

He could only overwhelm her with clones for so long. Once he'd gotten her away from everyone, the plan had been to piss her off and coax her into a chase. He was thoroughly experienced in such chases from his prankster days when ANBU would be dispatched to catch him after he'd set off paint bombs or stink bombs or whatever.

But she wasn't getting mad. She was perfectly calm and in control. And that was bad.

When Gaara had started to draw on more of his demon's power, he got crazier and more violent. While that had made him dangerous, it also made Gaara completely focused on pummeling his target to the exclusion of all else. Gaara would've chased him all over the forest if Naruto had run away.

This Kumo girl, though… She wasn't in a rage. He'd smashed mud into her pretty hair and she wasn't the least bit bothered. Was she a tomboy or something? Did she not care about her appearance like other kunoichi?

…Was she really that good that her demonic power (if that's what it was that she was using) didn't cloud her mind?

"Yeah I'm a ninja!" he sneered. "A better ninja than you! You still can't touch me!"

"Oh really?" she whispered, suddenly behind him.

_Crap!_ Naruto lurched away, wincing as several shuriken sliced through his new coat and into his back. _I sat still too long!_

"Where are your friends, little boy?" Yugito taunted.

"They're around," he shot back as he clawed at the steel behind his shoulders. "Just waiting to surprise you!"

"…I think they left you as a decoy," she decided.

And then she was _leaving_! The bluish haze of chakra around her flared and solidified a little into a vaguely feline silhouette. This seemed to let her move faster than ever.

Naruto snarled a word that would've got him laps around the village and raced after her. He drew harder on the small stream of chakra he'd managed to steal from the fox and managed to boost his speed enough to keep pace with her and slowly close the gap. Howling, he made a lunge for her long ponytail—

She got a grip of a tree branch, turned, got a grip of him, and swung around the branch to fling him into a tangle of ninja wire. It was thin, but strong, and cut into his exposed skin. Naruto tried to break it—

Electricity arced through the wires, making him scream and seize. She'd run a basic _Raiton_ jutsu through the wire to electrocute him. It hurt, it hurt, it hurt—

It stopped. He sagged in the web of wires, gasping for air. The power that he'd stolen was rapidly slipping through his fingers now that he wasn't consciously drawing at it. Soon he'd be powerless and probably out cold.

The Kumo kunoichi strode up to him, chakra still flickering over her skin. "Now let's get a good look at you, you little pest."

"'M not lil…" he slurred, his tongue feeling numb.

She ignored his feeble protest and grasped his chin to better study his face as the fox's influence faded. "A kekkei genkai?" she mumbled to herself. "No…it doesn't fit the bloodlines known of Konoha. It's not like the Sharingan… You're definitely not Uchiha Sasuke…

"Your body contains the Kyuubi no Yoko, doesn't it?" she said suddenly.

Naruto made a weak lunge in a vain attempt to head-butt her. "Who ar' you?"

"I am Nii Yugito of Kumogakure no Sato," she replied, unbothered by his aggression. "And I am the host of Nibi no Nekomata, the two-tailed cat demon."

He shuddered. _…Crap. How many demons are out there? First the Kyuubi, then that freaky Shukaku, and now this?!_

"This complicates things…" Yugito was talking to herself again. "I need to kill them all and make it look like the Jinchuuriki did it…but the Jinchuuriki is _here_. I can't kill him…that would provoke war between Cloud and Leaf. …And he knows the plan, he knows that Kumo stole the Hyuuga away." Her cat-like eyes refocused on him. "Are you happy in your village, Fox Boy?"

"Don' call me 'Fox Boy'!" he fumed.

She grasped one of the wires and pulled, tightening the whole web and biting deeper into his flesh. "Are you happy?"

"Wha' does tha' mah'er," he wheezed.

"My power is respected in Kumogakure," she told him. "Is your power respected in Konohagakure?"

He stared at her. _…What?_

"If you are unhappy, you could come back with us to Kumogakure," she offered gently. "People will respect you there, appreciate you. Most villages don't seem to do that. They fear people like us."

Naruto wilted in the wires.

"If you come with us willingly, we can teach you how to reach an understanding with your demon," she continued. "Nibi and I, we are a team—far stronger together than we were apart, or at odds. Together we are never alone. Don't you want that?"

He thought about when he was smaller and would wander the cavernous Hokage Manor and wish for his dad to come home and end up going to bed without ever seeing him, and he shrank inside.

"And if you help us, you won't come to Kumogakure alone. That Hyuuga girl will be coming too." Yugito studied him thoughtfully. "Perhaps you will even be allowed to expand her bloodline in Kumo, if you want…"

Latching onto the mention of Hinata, he forced his mind and mouth to work. "Wha…what are you gonna do to…to Hinata? Aren't…aren't you gonna…cut her eyes out?"

"No," Yugito sniffed. "That would be wasteful. Kumo would only cut out her eyes if she died. But she is far more useful alive and able to found a new branch of her clan among us."

His brow furrowed. "Wha…? How?"

"In a few years, she will be the centerpiece of a breeding program designed to build a new clan from her with the minimum of inbreeding while preserving her precious kekkei genkai," the kunoichi explained. "Men with desirable traits will be selected for her, children will be produced, and when she is no longer able to safely have children, she will train her offspring and live the rest of her days in peace."

Naruto, being twelve (almost thirteen), had a vague understanding of sex (with the senseis he had, _of course_ he knew a bit about sex). He knew what it was, and he knew that it generally happened when a man and a woman loved each other a lot (preferably they were married, too). But while he was intrigued by possibly kissing girls, the idea of getting naked and hopping into bed with a naked girl wasn't at all personally appealing to him.

He also had a fuzzy concept of what rape was. Rape was where sex was forced on a girl when she didn't want it with a guy she didn't know or didn't like. It was also a horrible, evil crime that had some really nasty punishments attached to it.

_Men are going to be picked for her… More than one guy… And it's a "breeding program" so she's gonna hafta have babies…lots of babies… With strange guys that she probably won't like…_

Naruto closed his eyes and could vaguely imagine what Hinata's future would be in Kumo, whether he went with her or not. The terrified, broken look on her face when Neji had verbally assaulted her in the Chuunin Exams came to his mind. She would probably look like that when the strange men assigned to make baby Hyuugas came to her. The nice girl who had given him that flower…

It was horrible.

It was wrong.

It made him furious.

His eyes snapped open, red and slit-pupiled, and fox fire surged from within. The numbness and weakness was gone; he felt as insanely energized as he had when the demon had juiced him up after Sasuke had skewered him with the _Chidori_. The ninja wire that bound him heated, melted a bit, and then snapped. The chakra that poured off him kicked up gusts of wind that sent nearby leaves swirling away, and he roared like a beast.

"There's no way that I'm letting you take Hinata away! I'll tear you apart first!"

* * *

Minato paced his office as the shadows began to lengthen from the sun descending towards the horizon, crushed under a stifling sense of helplessness, and hating every second of it. He was the Hokage, master of paperwork and desk-ninja extraordinaire. He was not allowed to go traipsing out into the field after his son…despite the fact that pretty much every other father involved was doing just that for their child.

Just before noon, Hyuuga Hiashi had stormed into his office with a strained and sickly-looking Neji following him. Hinata had been abducted and Nara Shikamaru was leading an improvised rescue mission to try and retrieve her. Hiashi was not satisfied with a chuunin and a group of genin on the case. He wanted more done.

The Hokage happily agreed, but the village forces were still stretched rather thin. He had a few more shinobi available than last time, but he was still scraping the bottom in the barrel. So he went to the other fathers first. It was a bit of a risk, as they were personally involved with the initial pursuit team, but they would also fight twice as hard to succeed in their mission and save the other team.

Tenten's family ran a weapon shop and had no other active ninja in the family so he didn't bother contacting them. Nara Shikaku griped about it a bit, but agreed, even before his nagging wife demanded that he do it. Yamanaka Inoichi practically fell over himself in his desire to go and protect his little girl. Aburame Shibi was his usual self when he agreed, pragmatically noting that his insects would be able to track Shino's insects and be the best way next to using an Inuzuka to find the other team and Hinata. And Hiashi rounded things out to insure that his daughter and heir was brought back safely.

An hour after the news came to him, the band of fathers departed…and Minato started pacing. He could've sent Sarutobi Asuma, Yamato, Genma, or Kakashi, but held them back. There was no hint as to who had taken Hinata or why, so he couldn't tailor the official retrieval team to meet the threat. So he kept them in reserve, just in case…

There was a puff of white smoke and a burly ANBU with an ox mask appeared. "Hokage-sama, a messenger!"

The ANBU carefully deposited a young Summon Toad on his desk that was panting and quite exhausted.

"Gamakichi?" Minato blinked, striding up to Gamabunta's offspring. "What are you doing here?"

"Naruto…promised me…two boxes of Pocky…" the orange-ish toad wheezed.

"After you pass on your message," the Hokage ordered.

The warty amphibian pouted, but obediently relayed what he'd been told as he tried to catch his breath.

"A cat monster called 'Nibi'?" Minato hissed. "Are you sure that's what Shikamaru said?"

"Yeah, it was really weird so of course I'd remember that part," Gamakichi sniffed. "So where's my Pocky, Hokage-sama?"

"You'll get it," he muttered distractedly. "Ox, summon Yamato and Kakashi here immediately, and take Gamakichi to get his candy."

"_Hai_, Hokage-sama!" the ANBU nodded, took the toad child, and vanished from the office.

Sucking in a shaky breath, he collapsed in his desk chair and cradled his head in his hands. _This is awful! First the Ichibi and now the Nibi? And Kumo…back up to its old tricks… And I can't leave the office. Unless…_

He sat up and dug around in his desk drawers until he came up with a peculiar kunai with seal paper wrapped around the handle.

There were a pair of nearly simultaneous smoke bursts which cleared to reveal Yamato in jounin gear and Kakashi with his infamous book tucked under one arm.

"Yo!"

"Hokage-sama!"

Minato flipped the kunai to Kakashi and fixed both ninja with a grave look.

"Here's the deal you two…"


	17. Rising Storm

**Chapter 16**_  
Rising Storm_

Shikamaru clenched his teeth as they rocketed along through the trees. Their opponents were in sprint mode, racing for the border with reckless abandon. It was all Shikamaru and his allies could do to keep the gap between them from widening. He really didn't see how they were going to close that gap, let along overtake them for an ambush.

_Troublesome,_ he scowled.

There was a bit of good news: Shino's leg wasn't numb anymore so they could manage a better group speed. But it was getter later and soon the sun would be setting, and that was bad. Without sunlight, there were no shadows, and without shadows Shikamaru was nearly powerless. His family jutsus were dependant on shadows, and without them he could only plan, set traps, and throw kunai. In his estimation, his overall effectiveness went down to around forty percent when it was dark.

_We need back-up. Even if it's just another body, we need them. I hope they catch up soon—_

"We are being followed," Shino announced.

"Can you tell who it is?" Shikamaru asked.

"I believe they are friendly," Shino responded. "My allies detect members of my father's colonies."

"…So you think your dad's coming?" Shikamaru frowned thoughtfully.

Shino's father was the official clan head for the Aburame, and therefore technically retired from active duty. The man would only take a mission he volunteered for it, or it was a dire emergency. Shikamaru guessed that the Hokage had politely asked Shibi to volunteer.

Not five minutes later, Shikamaru got a surprise.

"What the heck did you do to your arm?"

Shikamaru whipped his head around to see his own father materialize out of the leaves and shadows. "Oyaji?"

"Dad?!" he heard Ino screech from behind him.

"Ino, honey, are you okay?" Ino's dad sounded a little frantic.

"I'm fine!" she snapped. "What are you doing here?!"

"Well…the Hokage said that you were on an emergency B-rank, and…"

Shikamaru tuned the elder Yamanaka out and glanced forward to see that Shino's father had also arrived and was easily keeping pace beside his son. If they'd verbally greeted each other, Shikamaru hadn't heard it. And also keeping pacing on the other side of Shino was another clan head: Hyuuga Hiashi.

"Your arm?" his dad asked pointedly, reminding Shikamaru of his presence.

"Glancing blow from a kunai," Shikamaru grunted.

"Yoshino's going to have a fit," Shikaku sighed.

Shikamaru just groaned. "Troublesome."

Up ahead there was a gap in the trees just wide enough to make leaping across it difficult, and by unspoken agreement, they all landed in the clearing to catch the fathers up and reorganize.

It was quickly determined that the older ninja—who Ino had quietly dubbed "Team Dad"—would race on ahead to lay ambush on the Kumo-nin. With Hiashi's Byakugan, they would be able to track their foes with minimal difficulty, and with all their greater strength and experience they were better suited to tackle the chuunin-level shinobi. Shikamaru would lead his comrades in behind and hit the Kumo-nin with a second blow, trapping the kidnappers in a pincer move.

As their quick conference was breaking up, Hiashi glanced over the assembled young ninja and frowned. "Neji said that Uzumaki Naruto was a part of your team. Where is he?"

"The Kumo team had a fourth member—a kunoichi—and detached her early on to eliminate us," Shikamaru answered. "Her orders were: Kill them all and make it look like Konoha's Jinchuuriki did it."

All four adults froze.

"I assigned Naruto the task of leading the kunoichi away from both sides in a wild goose chase," Shikamaru added. "So far, neither has returned so I assume that they're still at it."

"There is something really weird about that girl," Ino chimed in with a frown. "I tried to possess her…and something kicked me out."

"Something?" Inoichi asked, alarmed.

"It was a giant cat made out of blue fire." Ino shuddered. "It tried to eat me! I think that Yugito girl called it 'Nibi'…"

Now the adult ninja were definitely on edge.

"We need to hurry," Hiashi grunted, and all four of them darted away.

Shikamaru took a swig from his water bottle and sighed. "We should get going, too. Every minute we've been sitting here, those Kumo-nin have still been running."

Wordlessly they fell back into their formation and continued the pursuit.

"Something is up!" Ino declared after a few minutes of silent tree-hopping. "You saw how the dads all got freaked out when Shikamaru said that word—'Jinchuuriki.' What the heck does that word even mean?"

"Demon host," Shikamaru answered. "That was what that Taro guy first called him."

"Demon host? What the heck is that?!" Ino huffed.

"I dunno, a host for a demon?" Tenten suggested dryly.

"But what does that mean?" Ino whined. "Shika-kun!"

"Troublesome," Shikamaru groused, ignoring her question.

"…Fine, don't apply your genius to the problem. Lazy ass!" Ino fell silent, and for a while Shikamaru thought that she'd dropped it. "Demon host…" she thought aloud. "They probably don't mean a person who holds parties for demons, so that means a person…who has a demon living inside them like a parasite?"

_It could be very much like that,_ Shikamaru thought.

"But how does the demon get inside?" Tenten asked, probably to try and ease the tension of the pursuit. "By eating really bad fruit, or what?"

"Ha, ha," Ino snorted. "I can leave my own body and possess someone else's, so what's to say that there isn't some jutsu or procedure to insert a demon into a person?"

"Why would someone do that?" Tenten wondered.

"No idea," Ino shrugged. "It sounds nasty." There was another stretch of quiet before Ino spoke up again. "Konoha's 'Jinchuuriki'…where would we get a demon to make one, huh? The only demon that I've ever heard of that wasn't part of a fairy tale was the Kyuubi, and the Sandaime Hokage killed it years ago."

_Did he?_ Shikamaru snorted to himself. _Or did the legendary "Professor" stick it into Naruto somehow?_

"And why the heck would foreigners think that we had a Jinchuuriki, anyway?" Ino wondered. "And if we _do_ have one, how is it that none of us know about it?"

"And yet, when it comes up, the adults get nervous…" Tenten observed.

"It's like some kind of conspiracy!" Ino fumed. "The adults know something we don't…"

Ino wasn't stupid, Shikamaru knew. She did stupid things like chase after Sasuke even when it was crystal clear that he wasn't interested, but when she was on a mission or given something to do where Sasuke wasn't, she was smart and motivated. She could put things together just as well as he could, it just took longer. And even though she didn't have all the information that he had…

_She realizes that it's a possibility… A possibility that would explain everything. The question is: Does it bother her?_

It didn't bother Shikamaru. He'd thought about it a lot. Naruto wasn't a psycho like Gaara. The blonde boy was loud and a little obnoxious, but he was a good kid and a loyal ninja. Shikamaru wasn't bothered at all by the fact that there could be a blood-thirsty demon fox living inside his friend.

_He's hasn't gone bad yet…so I don't think he ever will. He's Naruto, after all. He's going to be Hokage someday…_

* * *

Naruto smashed through two branches, bounced off a third, and regained his footing on the fourth before twisting out of the way of Yugito's next strike. He dodged one slash, two slashes, three slashes from her chakra-shrouded claws, then ricocheted off a tree trunk and plowed into her side with both fists. She recovered annoyingly quickly, caught him with one of her two chakra tails and slammed him down towards the earth. He managed a good landing and extended a long arm of boiling red-orange chakra to grab her by the hair and fling her into a patch of brush that just happened to be thorny. Yugito caught a branch before crashing into the bushes, broke free from his chakra grip, and darted in an arc to slam into his side, knocking him deep into the wide base of a tree.

"You've lasted longer than I thought you would," she panted. "But I will outlast you. Nibi and I are a team. I don't have to fight her while I'm fighting you."

Naruto snarled and clawed his way out of the splintered dent he'd been smashed into. He was sore and bruised all over, his new coat was shredded and missing a sleeve, and his control was all but gone. With the Kyuubi's chakra now enveloping him in a shadow of the demon's true form, he dropped to all-fours and recklessly charged her again.

He couldn't remember how the fight started, nor when the chakra had boiled out of his skin to cloak him. He only had a vague notion of why he was fighting. He just knew that he had to win. It was important that he win.

A voice whispered to him about more power, infinite power, if he would just remove the seal on the gates. More power would be helpful—he was just barely holding on in his fight with the girl. But he hesitated, and then did not.

Just as it was important to win this fight, it was important to leave that seal on the gates in the depths of his mind. He couldn't remember why. He just knew.

She cracked him across the face and sent him skidding off to the right. He regained traction and made another charge at her flank, which she side-stepped. Then she took his legs out from under him, caught him by the throat, and slammed her fist into his gut.

"You're getting sloppy," she chided. "It makes me wonder…am I fighting the boy, or the beast? Who is in control?"

Fuzzily, he was angry at her. She could still think rationally and plan and talk… He really couldn't. All he could think about was hitting her, slashing at her, tearing her to pieces. He'd fought too long and now a primal rage drowned just about everything but a few scraps of faint purpose from his mind.

Roaring, he tried to rip her face off—and got a fist in his own face for it.

"The beast more than the boy, I think," she concluded. "They say that the Yondaime Hokage is a genius, a master of seals. He must be, to design a seal strong enough to keep the fox at bay when the host cannot."

Naruto howled, in spite of his broken and bleeding nose, and bucked free from her grip. Bouncing back a few short leaps, he tried to extend a chakra arm under the ground to catch her unawares the way he'd done with Sasuke. But she seemed to sense it and dodged, lashing out both her chakra tails at the same time and sending him cart-wheeling away from her.

"I suppose I should be grateful to your Hokage, boy," she snorted. "Without that seal, the Kyuubi would've broken free and smashed me into oblivion long ago."

He staggered up from the dirt and tried to stare her down, wary for any weakness or opening that he could exploit. She wasn't the least bit intimidated by him. Her demonic chakra cloak possessed one more tail than his did, and she seemed to have ready access to a lot more power than he did.

"You are weak, little boy," Yugito sneered. "You are no match for one who has tamed her beast."

Naruto howled again and lunged—

A flash grenade exploded in front of his face, blinding him in an instant. He crashed face-first into the dirt, screeching and blindly flailing for his foe. But she was nowhere in reach and he couldn't see.

The Kyuubi healed his hurts and replenished his energy far faster than normal, but even the fox could only do so much. It took several minutes for his eyes to recover. In all that time, his enemy hadn't made a single move to hurt him. She wasn't anywhere in sight.

It made him uneasy. But the fox's rage quickly drowned that worry. Baring his fangs in a feral grimace, he crept around the battered greenery in search of his feline prey.

He had to win.

That was all that mattered.

Moving on the superimposed instincts of the Kyuubi, he sniffed at the ground like a canine. He zeroed in on her scent—a strange mix of human female and demon cat—and raced along the invisible trail like one of the Inuzuka's dogs, or Kakashi's Summon dogs. Her trail was clear and strong; she'd made no effect to conceal it. That should've bothered him, but it didn't. All he was aware of was the fox's feral glee at an easy kill.

Breaking into the open, he found her casually sitting at the far side of the clearing. Without a second of hesitation he dashed towards her, intent on tearing her into pieces. He covered half the clearing in one bound—

Light!

Sound!

Force!

Blackness…

* * *

Nii Yugito only relaxed when the dust cloud from the explosion dissipated and no immediate attack came at her. Even with such little control over such a small portion of the Kyuubi no Yoko's power, that boy had been able to take a lot of damage and keep on going. But not even he could withstand the blast from the clearing packed with explosive notes and tags—the remainder of her impressive supply.

Next to laying traps, explosives were her favorite way to take out enemies. She cheerfully combined both things on a regular basis. And with her relatively high status in Kumogakure, she could get more explosives and get away with carrying more of them, than most ninja her age.

_I will have to be completely dependent on Nibi's power for the rest of the operation…_

**Excellent,** a deep, vaguely feminine voice purred.

Yugito dropped down into the rubble of the forest clearing and picked through the debris. It took some time, but she found her opponent buried under chunks of earth and splintered tree branches. He'd suffered no burns from the explosions, but he was battered, bloody, and quite unconscious.

"Good, he won't interfere anymore."

She sat back on her heels and took in her surroundings. While fighting, she only took in the terrain enough to plan her next moves or set traps. She could get away with it more in familiar territory, but here in the Land of Fire…

_It's hard to tell how far he's led me astray._ Her eyes narrowed at the fading light. _And he kept me occupied far too long. I need to hurry._

**If you are to make it look like Kyuubi-kun did the killing, shouldn't you let me out all the way? We will be able to travel faster that way, and it will be easier to overwhelm and slaughter those other children.**

_True,_ Yugito agreed thoughtfully. _If we are careful, we can make it look like the trail we leave to catch the little Konoha-nin actually goes the opposite direction, so that suspicion falls more solidly on that boy. …And if we are truly fortunate, the Kyuubi's chakra will have addled his brains and he won't be able to recall his mission._

**That would be nice, but it would be much simpler if you just killed him.**

_I won't risk war. Raikage-sama would be very displeased with us if we rekindled war with the Leaf—not to mention Killer Bee-sensei and Hachibi-sama. Do you wish us to tangle with them, Nibi?_

**…No.**

_Nor do I._ Yugito angled herself back along the damage path that she and the boy had already laid down. _Now let's get going. We have witnesses to stamp out._

**Of course.**

The chakra around Yugito thickened and expanded until her human form was lost in it. The flaming blue chakra flared and grew into the shape of a giant cat with two tails. It grew so large that its back almost broke through the lower parts of the forest canopy and green markings that strangely looked more solid than the rest of the feline beast.

With a yowl, the monstrous burning cat tore off through the trees at high speed in search of its prey…


	18. Memories and the Beast Within

**Chapter 17:** _  
Memories and_ _the Beast Within_

_…Plip._

_…Plip._

_…Plip._

_Naruto groaned and flung an arm over his face to try and drown out the repetitive sound of dripping water._

_It didn't work._

_He lay curled up on his side on a dirty, wet tile floor. A dim red glow faintly illuminated his surroundings, if he cared to look. There were pipes all along the ceiling and the air was dank and stuffy. In one direction, he knew, there was an opening that led out into a dreary patch of forest. And in the other, down in the depths, there was a cage._

_But it was all an illusion._

_He really hadn't gone anywhere…just into the recesses of his own mind._

_For a while, he wasn't sure how or why he'd ended up there. He just knew that he was hurt and tired. Not much else mattered._

_The dripping of the water was annoying, though._

_The first time that he could remember coming here was when Ero-Sennin had knocked him off a cliff to help him learn Summoning. He'd had to demand chakra from the Kyuubi then, and resolved that if he survived that he'd tattle on Ero-Sennin to his dad. But trying to win Gamabunta's respect (and trying to survive that test), chakra exhaustion, and then waking up a day before the final round of the Chuunin Exams had driven thoughts of getting the old perv into trouble out of his mind._

_He didn't feel like it anymore._

_Naruto sluggishly sat up and glanced around. Whenever he came here, it was to demand more power from the demon. He never really explored—never really thought to see what was behind all the doors that lined the sewer tunnels that made up most of his subconscious._

_"Might as well look around now," he decided._

_He wobbled to his feet, wavered for a moment, and then staggered off into the maze of tunnels. He didn't pick the first door he found, or the second. He wandered for what felt like a long time before settling on a door._

_He grasped the knob, turned it, pulled—_

* * *

"I want ramen!" Naruto wailed, stomping his foot in frustration.

"No," Dog answered boredly. "Dinner is dumplings."

"But I want ramen!" Naruto whined.

"Too bad," Dog shrugged and turned a page in his book.

It was a strange book, Naruto thought. It had a plain brown cover that looked like it was made from a paper grocery bag and Dog was always giggling at it. Naruto asked to read it (maybe it was a book of jokes!), but Dog would never let him get even a glimpse of the writing inside.

"I want ramen, dattebayo!" Naruto pouted, putting on his best pleading face. "Please?"

"No." Dog's ceramic mask didn't so much as leave the page to glance at him. "Mouse made dumplings for dinner, and you're going to eat them."

Naruto slumped. "Fine…"

"Good." Dog distractedly patted him on the head and started to nudge him towards the dinner table.

"I wanna wait for Dad," Naruto sulked. _Maybe he'll let me have ramen…_

"Eat now while the food's still hot. Your dad's a busy guy—I wouldn't wait for him."

Naruto wilted. His dad didn't always make it home in time for dinner, but ever since he'd started attending the Academy a few months ago it was getting worse. There were times he didn't even see his dad for breakfast! It made the fact that school sucked and all the teachers hated him for no reason worse.

"Okay," Naruto huffed and let himself be led to the table by—

* * *

_Naruto slammed the door shut and shuddered. It wasn't a terrible memory. Nothing bad had happened in it. …But it wasn't all that pleasant, either._

_"I guess Kakashi-sensei's always read porn," Naruto shrugged, thinking of the book that "Dog" had been reading—the book covered up with brown paper that he was never allowed to see._

_Shaking his head, Naruto trudged away from that door and sought another. Maybe he could find something pleasant—something to escape to for a while. That would be nice._

_He tried not to think about the memory that he'd found. It had been that night, when he was barely six, that it occurred to him that things weren't going to get better. Now that he was old enough to go to ninja school, his dad didn't need to be around anymore…and he wasn't going to be. Back then, he'd thought that it was because of something that he'd done…_

_"It was the fox," he mumbled. "It always is. I was old enough that the teachers could watch me and he could get back to work full time…"_

_Numbly, he settled on another door and peeked inside—_

* * *

"Damn it!" Naruto grumbled as he knelt in the Academy hallway and scrubbed at the drying paint.

He'd set up a prank where he'd dumped bright pink paint on a bunch of bullies. It had gone off without a hitch… Except for the part where it had been traced back to him. Even if he hadn't done it, the instructors would've probably blamed it on him anyway. They seemed to enjoy blaming him for anything that went wrong…

_…Dad didn't come this time._

When he'd first gotten in trouble at school, his dad was always come in and look disappointed, lecture him, and then negotiate his punishment out with the teachers. But after the first year, he stopped coming every time and would send Dog or some other ANBU when he didn't show. Now, almost two years after his first day of school, his dad almost never came, and ANBU rarely bothered checking in on what had happened.

_So what if he lectures me and gives me those stupid looks…at least I'd get to see him. But that won't happen if he doesn't show up! Man…_

_…I need to do something bigger._

Spilling a little paint of bullies was nothing; he needed something a little more attention-grabbing to make the Hokage take notice. It couldn't be anything dangerous—if people got hurt he might be banned from being a ninja and that was not what he wanted. He needed something flashy and non-lethal…

_Maybe something with fire-crackers,_ he mused as he sluggishly scrubbed at the paint on the floor. _Or maybe I can fill water balloons with hair dye… Or I could put glue on the chairs in the ANBU briefing room! That would definitely do it!_

"Hey, keep scrubbing you little brat—"

* * *

_Naruto snickered a bit as he shut the door. Not long after that, he'd rained dye bombs on a crowded market after cutting class and been dragged into the Hokage's office by a squad of ANBU. That had been the first of his major pranks—the kind that had landed him in front of his dad's desk with ANBU holding the rope._

_He really couldn't get himself to regret any of it. Pulling off his pranks had been fun challenges, and although the lectures and unhappy looks that he'd earned from his dad hadn't been all that great, he still managed to steal some of the Hokage's time for himself. Sometimes he'd even come up with pranks so funny that he knew his dad was laughing about them too on the inside._

_"Heh heh," he grinned faintly as he strolled through his mental tunnels. "It's kinda too bad… Now that I'm a ninja, I'm too busy to do that sorta stuff anymore."_

_His grin slipped from his face._

_"It's weird… I've seen more of dad in the past few weeks than I would in a couple months…he's even bothered to teach me stuff." Naruto frowned. "Why?"_

_The only answer he got was the echoing sound of water dripping and his own footsteps._

_"I wasn't worth bothering with before…what's so different now?"_

_He shook his head and found another door to peek through—_

* * *

He'd stayed too late at the Academy practicing his shuriken throwing. And really, he should've taken the long way home. Cutting through the downtown district of the village, where all the bars were, in the early evening, just wasn't a very good idea.

Naruto had tried to get through that area as fast as he could without running or otherwise drawing attention to himself. But in spite of his efforts, a pack of intoxicated men had spied him and began harassing him. That wasn't too unusual; when people weren't ignoring him they'd pick on him. However, these drunks were drunk enough to go beyond words and start actually carrying out their threats.

So he ran.

They chased, swinging bottles and spewing more barely unintelligible abuse at him.

It was nearly dark; he got confused, and took a wrong turn into a dead-end alley—

* * *

_Naruto slammed the door shut and just started running. He hadn't gotten really hurt then. An ANBU he knew as "Weasel" had rescued him after one of the goons had smashed a bottle over his head._

_But while it wasn't that bad, he had no desire to relive any more of that particular event._

_He ran blindly through the sewer tunnels. No matter what door he picked, it seemed that he would only find something lonely or terrible. There had to be some good memories somewhere…but all the doors looked the same._

_After a while, he slowed and then stopped._

_The nearest door didn't look nearly as grungy as the rest, so maybe…_

_"I'll try it!" Naruto decided._

_He grabbed the knob, hesitated, and—_

* * *

Haruno Sakura was such a pretty girl. Her long pink hair and bright green eyes guaranteed that she'd stand out in any crowd. And she wasn't just pretty, she was smart too! She was the top kunoichi in their whole class! She wasn't even from a ninja family!

He was so lucky to get on a team with her.

A fist slammed into his cheek, knocking his gaze away from his pink-haired teammate, and sending him staggering back a few steps.

"Idiot," a cold voice sneered.

Naruto snarled and opened his mouth to shout back at his rival—

* * *

_"Agh!" he howled and stomped his foot in frustration. "Why?!"_

_On the surface, this latest memory was the least unhappy. It was a fairly routine training session with Team Seven. Kakashi-sensei had his nose in a book, he was staring at Sakura and hoping to impress her, Sasuke was being a jerk and pissing him off…_

_But Sasuke…_

_Anything that had to do with Sasuke—good or bad—left a bitter taste in his mouth and a creepy sensation crawling under his skin._

_"Damn it!" he muttered, kicking at the door. "Forget this…"_

_He walked away from the door. He walked away from all of the doors. He walked away from the tunnel that sloped downwards into the chamber of the fox. He walked away from the sewer._

_When he'd first consciously found his way into his own mind, he'd appeared at the mouth of the sewer complex with a dreary forest at his back. He'd been in search of the Kyuubi's chakra back then, and had followed the pull of the red chakra into the tunnels. The forest he left unexplored._

_"A walk in the woods, that's what I need!" Naruto decided. "There's no fox out there! …And no Sasuke-teme either."_

_Holding his head high, he marched through the dimly lit tunnels until…_

_The woods beyond the tunnels were dreary, dark, and the hints of sky were overcast and rainy-looking. It was like someone took a photograph of the trees in his backyard, made the trees droopy and ominous-looking, and then drained almost all the color out of it. His mental forest made the sewers look friendly._

_"Creepy…" he shivered. "But there can't be anything out there that's worse than what is in here!"_

_With that bold thought, he marched out of the shadows of the sewers…and into the shadows of the forest._

_There was a faint path that he followed. He could've tried to travel through the trees, but…they were just too creepy. Walking was just fine. It wasn't like he was in a hurry or anything._

_The little trail dead-ended in a small, gloomy clearing that had a sluggish trickled of a stream cutting through one corner of it. It was populated with tiny, dull wildflowers that were barely more colorful than the surrounding trees. And…it looked like there were old toys laying around on the ground. Wooden kunai and shuriken, toy blocks, a stuffed frog, things like that._

_"Weird…"_

_He picked his way around the clearing, looking at everything but touching nothing. Naruto frowned, baffled by it all. He supposed he understood the sewers and the doors, and the Kyuubi and its cage, but this…?_

_"What the heck?"_

_Next to the pathetic stream, there was a squat pillar of stone planted just in front of a tangled mass of tree roots. It looked like there was supposed to be writing on it, but it was worn away or something. There was a hazy cloud of smoke that hung around it and there were some indistinct shapes huddled at its base. The whole spot looked haunted._

_"Wah!" he squeaked and jumped away from the eerie thing. "…Is it possible for a part of a person's mind to be haunted?"_

_That didn't seem to make much sense._

_"Don't be a baby!" he chided himself._

_Steeling his nerves, he marched right up to the misty stone and examined it._

_It really looked like a grave marker—either it was really weathered, or it had never been completely chiseled to begin with. The haze smelled funny, and made him think it was some kind of incense. The shapes at the base of the stone were some white flowers (lilies, maybe?) and white origami cranes…and he could see right through them._

_"Huh?" he blinked and tentatively picked up one of the paper cranes—_

* * *

He was running and everything seemed to be so big. He wasn't sure where he was going or why, but he felt happy. He was dressed in blue overalls, Velcro sandals, and an orange T-shirt, and running through a grassy place full of tall stones—

He tripped, tumbled down a short slope, and crashed into a gravel path. Some of the rough stones cut into his palm and forearm and it stung. He stared at the little bits of blood and then screamed and started to cry.

A shadow fell over him and big strong hands hefted him up against a drab green armored vest. "Shh, it's alright, it's alright," a deep voice soothed as he was gently rocked and bounced. "I told you not to run, Naruto."

"Dah-dee!" he wailed miserably and hugged his father's neck. "Ow-chee!"

"Shh, you're okay, you're okay, I promise." His dad gently wiped the blood from Naruto's hands with a scrap of bandage to reveal perfectly healed skin underneath. "See? The ouchie's all gone."

"Is gone?" Naruto sniffed, blinking tearfully at his clean hands.

"All better," his dad smiled warmly. "Now no more running, okay?"

"'Kay," Naruto quietly agreed.

"Now let's keep going…" His dad tried to put him down, but Naruto clung fast to his neck.

"No down!" he protested. "Cawwy me!"

"…What do you say?"

Naruto pouted. "Pwease?"

"…Alright."

His dad carried him through the hilly field full of tall stones. There wasn't another person in sight, and it was pretty quiet, but Naruto didn't care. His ouchies were gone and his daddy was carrying him somewhere, so it was all good.

They came up to one of the weird stones and his dad sat down in front of it. There were funny marks carved into it that made him think of all the papers that his daddy played with all the time. His dad pulled the small bundle of flowers that he had out of his coat pocket and put them on the ground in front of the stone. And then he took some skinny sticks from his pocket and stuck them in the ground near the flowers, set them on fire with a match, and then blew them out, leaving the smoldering tips to draw curls of smoke in the air.

It. Was. Fascinating.

Naruto reached out to touch the smoke sticks—

"No." His dad's big hand closed over his tiny hands. "Don't touch, it's fire—ouchie."

The smoke kinda smelled like the nice spices he'd found in the cabinet once…and spilled all over the kitchen floor.

His dad reached into another pocket and added one more thing to the pile of stuff in front of the stone. They were little white birds made of folded paper. They matched the white flowers.

"Birdies!" Naruto cried, pointing excitedly.

"Yes," his dad almost whispered. "…For Mommy."

"Mommy?" Naruto blinked and looked around for another person. "Mommy? Where?"

"There." His dad tapped the tall stone.

Naruto stared at it and then frowned at his father in bewilderment. "Mommy's a wock?"

"No, Naruto, Mommy isn't a rock," his dad sighed. "Mommy's under the rock."

Naruto stared at the stone again, then glanced up curiously at his dad. "She gonna come out an' play wiff me?"

"No, son." His daddy shook his head and rubbed at his eye. "Mommy's there forever. She can't come out and play with you."

"Oh…" Naruto frowned and stared at the smoke. "I'm hungwy," he decided.

His father sighed. "Alright…let's go get lunch."

* * *

_Naruto blinked at the vague stone in the haze of incense smoke._

_"Was that…a dream? Or did that happen?"_

_He frowned and scratched at his cheek._

_"…Who remembers anything from when they were two, anyway?"_

_He shrugged and walked away from the indistinct grave. He wandered aimlessly around the clearing, idly eying the scattered toys and trinkets and wondering what would happen if he touched any of them. A scrap of red caught his eye and he saw what looked like the bottom edge of his dad's Hokage coat sticking out of some bushes._

_Naruto scowled at that and went over to pull it out of the bushes—_

* * *

He was running down the hall, his dad's jacket on and dragging on the floor behind him, and the funny Hokage hat on his head and blinding him because it was so big.

"Naruto! Get back here!"

"No!" he shouted back. "_I'm_ the Hokage!"

"I don't think so." Naruto squeaked as he dad caught the back of the coat and made him stop. "I need my jacket, Naruto; I have a meeting today."

Naruto spun around and brandished his wooden kunai at his dad as menacingly as he could. "No! I'm the Hokage and I say you have to stay home with me today!"

"You're only four, Naruto; you're too young to be Hokage. If you still want to be Hokage when you're twenty-four, we'll talk about it."

"Of course I wanna be Hokage," Naruto snorted. "I wanna be Hokage just like you, Daddy."

"Just like me, huh?" His dad easily plucked the hat and jacket off Naruto, and yanked the coat on. "That's your ambition?"

"Yup," Naruto nodded confidently. Then he frowned in worry. "I can do that, right?"

"Yes," his dad reassured him. "But being Hokage is hard work and very serious business. You'll have to work very hard and be a strong and smart ninja to even be considered for the job. Any promise you make, you have to keep, and you'll have to do your best to be fair to everyone, even people you don't really like. And if you decide you don't like the job, you can't back out of it—if you start something, you have to finish it the best you can, and never give up." He raised an eyebrow at Naruto. "Do you think you can do all that?"

"_Hai_!" Naruto saluted with his wooden kunai.

"Alright," his dad nodded seriously. "Then eat your vegetables and in a few years we'll see."

"No!" Naruto moaned and pulled at his hair. "Not vegetables! I hate—"

* * *

_"…vegetables," Naruto scowled._

_"That definitely happened," he decided. "It's weird the stuff that you remember when you're almost dead…"_

_He frowned a little at that. Almost dead… He'd been in a fight, hadn't he? And…he'd lost._

_He ran though the events of his latest "mission," mumbling it under his breath. The further he got, the more he frowned. And then he got to the part where he was blown sky-high…_

_"I screwed up…" he whispered. "Stupid fox! Hinata…I won't see her again, and…and…"_

_The fate she would suffer in Kumo was just too horrible to contemplate._

_"Damn fox!"_

_While the demon's chakra had kept him alive, it had also eroded his mind. He'd only wanted to distract that girl, but the Kyuubi had wanted to kill her, so he'd started attacking her more and more instead of luring her along. He'd managed to cling to enough sense not to risk accepting more power from the demon…but without it, he'd been doomed to fail._

_"I guess…it's over then."_

_That thought bothered him. It made him mad. It couldn't be over! Hinata couldn't be gone! And Shikamaru and Ino and Shino and Tenten—_

_He jumped up and ran back to the tunnels._

_"It's not over until I'm dead, and I'm not dead yet!" he declared fiercely._

_Racing through the dank, twisting sewer channels, he skidded into the high-ceilinged chamber that housed the cage of the Kyuubi no Yoko._

**"It took you long enough to get here, Worm,"**_ the fox snarled._** "Now why don't we discuss your pitiful performance and utter **_**waste**_** of my power…"**

_Naruto marched right up to the narrow golden bars of the cage gates—too angry to be afraid or even wary—and kicked it, sending ringing vibrations rattling along the metal. "Don't you dare pin it all on me you stupid furball! Shikamaru said to distract her, not try to obliterate her! You messed me up!"_

**"I don't care what your worthless human comrades say,"**_ the demon sneered._** "The Nibi is far beneath me. She needed to be taught a lesson…and you messed that up."**

_"If she's so beneath you, then how did she kick our asses, huh?" Naruto shot back._

**"Because you are worthless, Worm,"**_ Kyuubi growled._ **"If you had taken more of my power, we would have triumphed easily, for I have nine tails and Nibi only has two."**

_"And if I took more power, you would get more control, and then you could go blow Konoha away! No, I don't think so!" He folded his arms over his chest and glared up at the towering, glowing red eyes. "I'd take your help if I could trust you, but I can't."_

**"Why do you even care about that wretched village? They have no respect for you or my power. They would kill you gladly if they could. Why strive for their affection?"**

_"Why not? They only hate me because of you and what you almost did to the village! The only way that I can prove that I'm not you is to do something you'd never do: Protect the village. And I'm going to!" he declared. "I'm going to protect the village and my friends, and one day I'll be Hokage—even if I have to reach through those bars and strangle you to do it!"_

**"You? Strangle me?"**_ The fox snorted derisively._**"Don't make me laugh."**

_"I don't think it'll be that hard," Naruto sniffed. "I mean, if a human and a lowly demon could kick your fuzzy butt, then a future Hokage should be able to throttle you without much trouble."_

**"Insolent mortal!"**_ the demon hissed._** "I was only defeated because of you! If I were not sealed in your worthless flesh, I would have won."**

_"Then how did the Sandaime Hokage beat you, huh?" Naruto challenged. "You were all strong and unsealed, and he was just an old man!"_

_The fox roared and slammed into the cage doors. Naruto jumped back, but the doors held and he shook off his fear. He glared at the demon and pounded on the cage a few more times with his fists._

_"Knock it off you big baby! You're never getting out of there!"_

**"I will find a way!"**

_"Yeah right," he scoffed. "Now here's the way that I see it… Everyone seems to think that I am you, and if I get my butt kicked so easily by Nibi the sissy demon, your reputation as the terrible king of demons goes down the toilet. And if you keep trying to mess with me when I use your chakra, I'll keep losing or I'll stop using your chakra and keep losing, you'll only look like a giant wuss. I might even get in a situation where I'll end up dying…and then you die too."_

**"Where are you going with this?"**

_"Yugito said that she didn't have to fight with her demon when she fights other people. She was calm and focused and she totally owned us both instead of being a crazy violent beast like Gaara was." Naruto straightened up and fixed the fox with his hardest look. "I want that."_

**"You want that?"**_ the fox mocked._

_"I want to be able to use your chakra and still be able to think and plan and fight the way that I want to. I want to be able to fight without your rage getting in my way."_

**"…No."**

_"Fine," Naruto shrugged and turned to slowly walk away. "Have it your way. I'm going to get up and see if I can't try and help my friends and save Hinata and this mission—with or without your help."_

**"Your body is too weak and damaged to continue."**

_"So? I'm still alive and I can still do something, so I will. Hinata and Shikamaru and Ino and Shino and Tenten are my friends and I'd rather die than let them down."_

**"If you die you will never achieve your ambition,"**_ the fox warned._

_"I'd give up being Hokage for my friends if I had to. Important people are worth more than some position."_

**"You are a fool!"**

_"And you're a selfish coward."_

**"I AM NO COWARD!"**

_Naruto paused at the mouth of the tunnel that would lead him away from the fox's cage. "Then why are you so afraid of letting me have your power? Why do you always fight me when you give it? Do you think I'm so stupid and clumsy that I'll get us both killed if you don't 'help' me?"_

_The demon stared at him through the bars, growling._

_Naruto shrugged and started down the tunnel. "See ya, furball!"_

**"Get back here, Wretch!"**_ the Kyuubi hissed._

_He poked his head out of the tunnel. "Why should I?"_

**"If you are so insistent on destroying us both for the sakes of your worthless friends, then…I shall grant you some of my power this one time…without interference. If your performance displeases me,"**_ the fox rumbled,_** "I will never do so again…"**

_"Fair enough, I guess," Naruto nodded. "Let's do it."_

* * *

The sky was bleeding shades of orange and red, the shadows were long and deep, and the sun was halfway set. Underneath the shattered branches and scattered chunks of dirt and rock in the blasted clearing, and hand stirred. An eye snapped open, blood red and slit-pupiled. And bubbling orange-red chakra boiled over…


	19. Shadow and Flame

**Chapter 18**_  
Shadow and Flame_

By the time Shikamaru and his team caught up to the action, it was all but over. The trench-coated Tetsu was bound and barely conscious, the large Ryoga looked dead, and Taro was on his last legs. A volley of medium-sized shuriken from Tenten and a buzzing black cloud of beetles from Shino cut off his retreat and drove the dark-skinned Kumo shinobi back into the clutches of the fathers where he was captured and bound in short order.

The sun had set and most of the color was gone from the sky. The moon was full, large, and yellow—a hunter's moon. It cast a lot more light than the usual moon, but it wasn't enough to power the Nara clan shadow jutsus.

While Shibi and Inoichi kept watch over the dazed and beaten prisoners, Ino and Tenten peeled Hinata out of the bag with Hiashi…supervising. Hinata was barely conscious—she'd been drugged on top of a mild concussion. Ino tended to her as best she could as she had the most medical knowledge of any of them (not that that was saying much), and everyone who was at loose ends formed a loose defensive perimeter against any other attackers that might be in the area.

"I-Ino-san…Tenten-san?" Hinata slurred, thoroughly dazed. "O-Otou-sama? What…?"

"You were careless," Hiashi told her before either girl could give her a kinder reply. "The Byakugan nearly fell into enemy hands."

"I…I'm s-s-sorry," Hinata whimpered, her voice a frail whisper of sound.

Hiashi said nothing to her; he simply shook his head and moved a few paces away to use his eyes to make sure no other foreigners were in the area.

Shikamaru looked away from the small scene as Ino and Tenten tried to revive Hinata further and keep the girl from sinking into despair from her father's chastisement. _She calls him "Otou-sama" instead of "Otou-san"… It's more formal, more distant. The only way it could show more distance between them was if she called him "Hyuuga-sama" instead of "father" at all._

_…And I thought that Naruto and the Hokage's relationship was dysfunctional—this is such a drag._

Now that there was no immediate threat, there was no more pursuit, and there was powerful and experienced back-up to take care of things, he had some wiggle room to ponder other things. So his mind immediately swung back to consider what he'd found out from Naruto just before the mission interrupted them. He really hadn't liked anything he'd heard…

_If the Hokage really is Naruto's father…he's not very good at it. While he doesn't seem to put ridiculous pressure on Naruto like Hiashi does to Hinata, ignoring his kid isn't that much better. To always put his work first and not bother to impress valuable life lessons and basic ninja skills on Naruto…_

Shikamaru shook his head. _Everyone always speaks so highly of the Hokage—he's like a saint to the village. But he's human; he's imperfect—just like the rest of us. He might be a fantastic ninja and a highly intelligent man, but he seems like a lousy dad to me._

_…As for Naruto, talking him about the possible fate of the Kyuubi and his relation to it looks like it will be trickier than I thought. He's clearly terrified of me—or anyone else—finding out about his secret. He was so skittish and evasive when I suggested that people might give him crap on his birthday._

He sighed deeply. _Troublesome…_

"Something on your mind?"

Shikamaru glanced up at his father. "…It's really troublesome to try and solve a puzzle when new pieces keep appearing and changing the big picture."

"That would be very troublesome," his father agreed. "What's the puzzle?"

He didn't want to answer. His dad had stone-walled him earlier in his investigation, and his sensei had warned him that he was treading dangerous ground. He wasn't interested in getting into trouble. Not until he had the complete big picture.

"…Can't say," he shrugged. "I was just thinking over some things that Naruto said earlier."

A ripple of tension descended on the clearing and Shikamaru had the feeling at all the adults were now focused on him. _Troublesome…_

"Oh?" his dad prompted.

"He mentioned some stuff about his dad…how he's always busy," Shikamaru answered; keeping the other half of the conversation to himself.

"The boy is an orphan, he has no father, only a guardian," Hiashi curtly informed him.

_So that's the official line… But is it actually true?_ "Maybe he sees his guardian as his dad," Shikamaru suggested. "I don't know. Neji came up to us not long after…"

There was a stretch of silence, interrupted only by the ragged gasps and groans of the two prisoners.

"Are we set to move?" Shikaku asked.

"Yes," Hiashi nodded, and gathered up his daughter as it was obvious that Hinata could barely move under her own power.

"I take the lighter prisoner," Shikaku muttered.

"You always take the lighter one," Inoichi groused as he hefted the bound and gagged Taro over his shoulder. "Lazy ass."

"It runs in the family," Shikaku replied.

A sluggish breeze stirred the leaves—

An oppressive murderous intent slammed down upon them, knocking Shikamaru breathless for a moment.

"What the hell?!" Inoichi swore.

Ino whimpered, "Daddy?"

Shibi turned to Hiashi. "What do you see?"

The Hyuuga's eyes were already active and looking. "That boy's distraction has failed. We need to run. Now!"

But it was already too late.

They barely made it half a mile before they were overtaken.

There was a roar—something between a lion and a very large housecat—and then it burst through the trees in front of them. It was a giant cat nearly the size of the trees around it formed entirely of blue fire with two lashing tails. It easily barred their path and bared its teeth at them, yellow eyes like two full moons glared at them hungrily.

Shikamaru stared at it in horror, barely able to breathe under the pressure of its aggression.

_I left Naruto to deal with __**this**__?_

* * *

"Why must you two smoke?" Koharu complained. "It's a disgusting habit."

"It helps me think," Homura answered placidly.

Danzou didn't even bother answering the complaint and simply puffed on his cigarette.

The old woman growled, but moved on to business. "Why have you called us here, Danzou?"

"It seems that Hyuuga Hinata has been abducted," Danzou announced. "Surely you've heard this by now."

The other two nodded.

"This presents us with a potential opportunity," the battered man continued thoughtfully. "And I would like your opinions."

"Whatever we do, it will hinge on the outcome of this abduction," Koharu pointed out. "So any plans we make will center around three main hypothetical outcomes: The girl is recovered, the girl is killed, or the girl is successfully spirited away."

"If we are to do anything, the ideal situations would be if she were killed or successfully spirited away," Homura muttered, puffing on his small, plain pipe. "If she is saved, it would be much more difficult to incite the village into an offensive move against the perpetrators—especially with the village's active ninja still rather depleted from the Sand-Sound incident."

"Orochimaru can be so impatient," Danzou grumbled. "It's a pity. If he were more patient and dependable, he would've been a useful ally, even if he was still passed over for the position of Hokage. Hopefully he won't try to meddle with the village again anytime soon…"

"We can only hope," Koharu sniffed. "As it is, he not only made a dent in our ninja, he also inspired Namikaze to send Jiraiya to retrieve Tsunade and bring her back into Konoha's fold. Her usefulness as a medic is beyond compare, but she is a powerful roadblock."

"Indeed," Homura grunted. "She is strongly allied with Namikaze, and the Kyuubi-host as well, and she is a product of Sarutobi. Combined with the losses she suffered in the wars, she is definitely a roadblock to our desires."

Danzou stiffly shifted in his seat, cursing his aching joints. "We have many roadblocks to our goal of securing the village and bringing glory—first and foremost: the current Hokage. He's too pacifistic, too willing to back down and avoid a fight, too naïve…the list goes on. If only he weren't too powerful to risk assassinating…"

"We really should've fought Sarutobi more on Namikaze's appointment as successor," Koharu frowned. "He was too young. Sarutobi was appointed young out of necessity; there was no need for such a young fool to be chosen with Sarutobi still healthy and in control."

"It's too late to complain about that now. We need to focus on what we must do to get around him and eventually depose him. We must assure the safety and primacy of Konohagakure no Sato." Homura sighed and took a long puff on his pipe. "I wonder… Was it too hasty of us to eliminate the Uchiha clan? They were such a useful bunch with those eyes of theirs, and their desire for power would make them far more receptive than any other…"

"No, we were right to annihilate them. They were powerful, and interested in more power. To get them on our side, we would have to offer them the seat of Hokage, and who's to say that they would have to remain in line with our beliefs once they had that office under their control?" Danzou let his single eye drift over his two companions for a moment or two. "They were powerful with their kekkei genkai, and there were a lot of them—allying with Orochimaru would've been safer than bargaining with them…" Suddenly, he chuckled.

"What's so funny?" Homura inquired.

"Namikaze's foolishness does have its uses," the scarred and bandaged man smirked. "Not only was he the teacher of that little disgraced Uchiha that shamed the clan by sharing his eye, but his support of the Hyuuga's cowardly sacrifice to Kumo made the Uchiha doubt him. And that gave use the opportunity to direct Itachi to slaughter his family. Too bad he left that useless brat of a brother alive and blackmailed us into preserving his life."

Homura fiddled with his pipe thoughtfully. "Do you think we could sway Sasuke to our cause? He certainly looked angry with Namikaze for punishing him so severely. We could use his resent towards the Hokage to our advantage. If we tell him that it was the _Hokage_ that _ordered_ Itachi to murder the Uchiha…"

"It's too risky," Koharu disagreed. "If Sasuke finds out that it was _us_ that commanded Itachi under false pretenses he'll turn against us. If he doesn't try to kill us himself, he might rat us out and then Namikaze would find out… What do you think _he_ would do to us, huh?"

"At best we would be stripped of everything—our power, positions, respect—and Konoha would be made more vulnerable. No, we will not interfere with Sasuke," Danzou agreed. "He's too hard to control and if we were forced to kill him, Itachi would come for us. We leave that little wreck of a boy alone."

Koharu pursed her wrinkled mouth in thought. "What of the Kyuubi-host, Danzou? He's been harmless thus far, but he's started on the path of the ninja and his power has grown in leaps and bounds. Soon he won't be so harmless."

"True," Danzou agreed with a scowl. "Though dealing with him might be getting more difficult," he unhappily admitted.

"How so?" Homura frowned, adjusting his glasses. "The vessel is stupid with only minimal shinobi skills. He may have learned how to access _some_ of the fox's power, but not nearly enough to make him invincible. The village despises him, and while he does have some powerful supporters they are a tiny minority." He tapped the spent ashes out of the bowl of his pipe and started to re-stuff it. "If we wish to kill him, all we would have to do is sabotage one of his missions and make sure that Namikaze doesn't catch on. Doing so would be a waste of tremendous power though…"

"I wouldn't hold out hope of twisting the vessel to our side," Danzou grumbled sourly. "It never turned away from Namikaze, no matter how he neglected it…and now my sources in ANBU report that he is seeking to repair his relationship with the Jinchuuriki. With the power of the demon fox at his side, Namikaze stands to become even more powerful. And should the vessel reach adulthood, there is a risk that it might acquire the office of Hokage…" He shook his bandaged head.

"So the vessel must be killed?" Koharu asked.

"Yes," Danzou grunted. "The only question is when and how." He rubbed the handle of his cane. And then he smiled. "…Perhaps if this crisis with the Hyuuga doesn't work to our advantage, we could incite Iwagakure to assassinate the vessel."

"How?" Homura demanded. "Iwa is still nursing its wounds from its last defeat. They would be wary of causing trouble with Konoha again—especially with Namikaze in command."

"Normally they would be reluctant to act, but even the most cautious Iwa-nin would jump at the change to slaughter the only son of Konoha's Yellow Flash."

Both elders stared at him.

"I suppose there is a resemblance…" Homura frowned.

"The resemblance alone would be enough," Danzou chuckled. "But it's more than that. Namikaze has been careful to keep only a select few agents of ANBU close to the vessel; however, my agents have gathered more than enough information to confirm it as true." His chuckle turned decidedly nasty. "The whole show he put on in 'taking the boy in' after the vessel's reception was unfavorable was quite convincing. Too bad the child looks so much like him…and nothing like the woman listed as his birth mother."

Koharu shifted uneasily. "Namikaze is soft, especially to those precious to him. Do you really think he has the spine to have crafted a Jinchuuriki out of his own blood?"

"The Yondaime Kazekage did the same to his youngest son," Danzou snorted. "And times were dire when the Kyuubi advanced on us. As soft and foolish as Namikaze is, he manages to find a will of steel when the village is in distress and he is pushed up against a wall. If he could find no other way, he would do it…and he has."

Danzou lightly tapped the edge of the table with his cane. "Now back to the business at hand: What do we do—if anything—about the situation at hand?"

His two comrades leaned in, and the discussion of options and strategies began in earnest…

* * *

Shikamaru crouched by his dad's side, gasping for air. Hinata was on his back now, freeing up her father to fight. As it was dark, he and his father were fairly useless. Ino and her dad weren't much better—it was far too risky to try and possess that beast, and their other clan jutsus didn't have much effect. Tenten was little more than an annoying fly; her weapons were easily deflected by the beast's flaming hide. And the Aburame were just as ineffective—there was simply too much chakra for the insects to drain and if they didn't gorge themselves to the point of uselessness, they were incinerated by the intensity of the power they were sent against.

Only Hyuuga Hiashi could really put up a fight against the two-tailed cat of blue fire. His Byakugan allowed him to keep track of his monstrous foe and his surroundings at all times. And his _Juuken_ style did have some effect on the beast… But it recovered so quickly. Only Hiashi's great skill and the _Kaiten_ had kept him alive so far.

_We're not going to last,_ Shikamaru thought numbly. _Unless someone else comes or a miracle happens… We're going to die._

It was a horrible thought, but he was beyond horror now. He was tired and his arm hurt and the killing intent exuded by the creature made him tremble. All he wanted to do was lie down and watch the clouds until sleep came…

A glancing blow from one of the two tails caught Tenten as she was trying to trip it up with wires and sent her cart-wheeling into a tree trunk with a sickening smack. She crumpled, bounced off one branch, and landed on another and was still. From his distant position, Shikamaru couldn't tell if she was just winded, unconscious, or dead.

Shibi and Shino kept darting around it in desperate evasive maneuvers, sending their swarms to buzz around the cat's head to try and distract it. Hiashi dodged around the feline's deadly forepaws, jabbing _Juuken_ strikes at its face, chest, and feet, and spun into _Kaiten_s when he couldn't leap away in time. All three were slowing, and wouldn't last much longer.

Shikamaru knew his dad and Ino's dad were on the look-out for an opening to make an escape. If they found one, they'd be leaving those still fighting to die. And even then, if they ran, the monstrous cat would pursue them once the distracters were dispatched.

That had been the orders that the leader had given the Kumo kunoichi: Kill all the witnesses and make it look like Konoha's Jinchuuriki had done it. The demon cat had surely killed Naruto already. Shikamaru couldn't imagine that Naruto would've let his target get past him unless he was thoroughly disabled—and her orders were to kill.

_We're all going to die…_

Shino didn't dodge fast enough and his heavy coat was torn as the beast's claws grazed his side. He staggered backwards and apparently twisted his ankle, nearly immobilizing him. Shibi swooped in and extracted him from the danger zone, leaving Hiashi alone.

_It won't be long now…_

Hinata whimpered into his shoulder and Ino made a feeble attempt to comfort her. Shikamaru ignored it. He was too worn to find it troublesome. He was too worn for just about anything.

The head of the Hyuuga clan lashed out with the most powerful version of the _Kaiten_. He spun and a bubble of solid chakra shrouded him in a brief moment of protection. And around that bubble a tornado of shredding chakra swirled and cut into the looming demon.

It almost looked like it had worked. Part of the demon's face and forepaws were shredded into shapeless blobs of blue fire. But once the jutsu ended, the damaged parts reformed in minutes. Hiashi was too tired to take advantage of the opportunity, and no one else could.

**"That stung,"** the giant cat growled. **"Now it's my turn!"**

The beast yowled, and then it fired a ball of yellow flame from its mouth like a hellish hairball. Hiashi barely leapt clear, and one of his sleeves caught fire. The demon didn't seem bothered by the miss, it just launched another one. And then another, and another…

"Daddy," Ino whimpered nearby. "Are we going to make it out of here?"

"…We'll try, honey," Inoichi muttered tensely.

Shikamaru didn't see much hope of getting away. The demon stood between them and the village and never gave up that position, no matter what they'd tried to do to lure it away. They were tired and their chakra was low—the feline had energy to spare. There was just no way—

A red-orange…thing…landed on the beast's back, just behind its head, and there was a sudden explosion of blue fire as the cat's head started to disintegrate. The cat-beast howled and clawed desperately at its head, trying to dislodge its attacker. Hiashi took the opportunity to move out of range and take a soldier pill. Shibi took advantage of the lull to deposit Shino and the still inert Tenten with Shikamaru and all the others who were out of the fight.

"What's…what's going on?" Hinata wondered.

Shikamaru squinted at the reddish attacker, but couldn't make out much. "Something good, I hope," he muttered.

With one final buck, the monstrous cat flung the smaller attacker off. It landed lightly nearby and Shikamaru got a good look—

It was Naruto. He was shrouded in strange red chakra that was in shape that suggested a fox…with two lashing tails. Underneath that, his clothes were torn, a sleeve was missing, and his hitae-ate had slipped down from his forehead to hang around his neck like a loose animal collar. The whisker marks on his cheeks had darkened and widened, fangs were poking out of his mouth, it looked like he had claws for fingernails, and his eyes were red and slit-pupiled like an animal's.

The cat demon yowled and rounded on its tormentor with fangs bared. **"You little wretch! I'll tear your limbs off!"**

"If you can catch me!" Naruto shouted back tauntingly. "It's time for round two!"

Hissing, the giant cat lunged to smash him—

—And he nimbly darted aside with shocking speed.

"Nyah nyah!" Naruto sneered. "You missed me! You're such a slowpoke, Neko-chan!"

**"Dirty little fox kit!"** the cat shrieked. **"Keep this up and we will kill you!"**

"You gotta catch me first!" he cried, and then rebounded off a tree branch and slammed into the side of the cat's head—and the cat actually lurched from the hit!

Shikamaru's eyes widened. _Maybe…just maybe…some of us might make it out of this…_

_…Maybe._


	20. Clash of Demons

**Chapter 19**_  
Clash of Demons_

Naruto snarled and ducked away from another deadly paw swipe. He felt like he was on fire. Everything hurt—he couldn't tell if it was from the battering he'd taken earlier or the overload of demonic chakra. But at least there wasn't a fog of rage throwing him off anymore.

His _Rasengan_ strike had worked well, but not well enough. The orb of chakra had eaten through almost half the Nibi's head before he'd been dislodged. Surprise had been the key to his success. He wouldn't get another hit as good as that one.

If only she hadn't let her demon out… The Nibi was smaller than the Ichibi had been. Shukaku had towered over the trees, and even been taller than Gamabunta. Nibi was smaller…but still much bigger than Naruto.

With a little creative dodging and weaving, he managed to get in close to the cat's face and land a hefty smack. The demon shuddered, stumbled, but shook it off and tried to eat him. He chucked his last shuriken down its throat and blurred away. The sharp metal seemed to have no effect.

_I need long-ranged jutsus!_ he hissed to himself. _But…I don't have any. Besides throwing stuff, all my attacks are close combat. Even the _Rasengan_…_

He back-flipped out of the way of another strike, twisted to the left, dove to the right, rolled between the cat's legs, and lunged upwards in a gut strike. Nibi wheezed, staggered, and then did a mad sort of dance to try and stamp him out. Naruto darted away, caught the end of one of the two tails with his Kyuubi-claws, and hung on for dear life.

_I'm just not causing enough damage!_ he groused. _It shakes off every hit in seconds, even if I make it stagger! Even now I can't hit it hard enough to do any good! I need a better attack!_

**"Wretched insect!"** the demon shrieked and spat a fireball at him.

_It breathes fire too?!_ He hissed and barely rolled out of the way in time…not that it mattered. _Man, now I have to be twice as careful!_

Not only was Nibi big and bad, it had at least one long-range attack; it could have others. He didn't have to be close by to be hit. And if Nibi missed him…

_The others have to be close by,_ he mutely cursed, moving in close again to tray and avoid more fireballs. _Nibi was fighting someone when I caught up… But who?_

Snatching as big a handful of loose dirt as he could, Naruto hurled the dust at the demon's face in a desperate attempt to blind it. _If only I carried smoke bombs like Kiba… Those would work so much better._

To his relief, the dirt-in-the-eyes trick seemed to work. While the flaming cat screeched and clawed at its face, he took the opportunity to look around. With all the damage—broken branches, smashed tree trunks, scorched leaves, cratered earth—it was hard to see evidence for anyone else around.

…But there were shards of metal—various types of shuriken, kunai, senbon, and other more exotic weaponry—embedded everywhere (_Tenten_). He spied at least one crater that looked perfectly round, like the edge of a spinning sphere had drilled it (_…Hinata? Neji's _Kaiten_ made marks like that, he's not here, and she's a Hyuuga_). There was a smudge of…something…on a nearby branch, he focused on it…—insects, dead and maybe charred (_Shino…his poor bugs_).

There were at least three of his friends nearby…or had been. Shikamaru and Ino wouldn't leave much trace, their jutsu weren't obviously destructive. But where were they?

**"Come here little fox!"** Nibi howled, and his little reprieve was ended.

Naruto jumped—

Nibi's teeth snapped the branch he'd crouched on into splinters.

**"Are you going to run forever?"** the demon growled. **"If so…"** The Bijuu turned away and seemed to be stalking something. **"I will save you for last…and kill them first!"**

_Aw crap!_ "Giving up so soon?" he jeered. "You're not a cat, you're a chicken!"

**"You will pay for that! …In due time."**

Nibi paused, and started to build up a fireball. A big one, probably. Big enough to vaporize everyone else in one blow…

_I need to do something… I need to attack! But with what?_

The rippling blue hide of the Nibi oddly made him think of water. Water rushing in slow-motion. A slow-motion waterfall that flowed upside-down—

_Maybe that would…!_

Naruto repositioned himself to get a clear shot at the Nibi's flank, raised his arms, started to concentrate his chakra—

**Use your own chakra, mortal worm,** Kyuubi sneered. **My power is the power of fire, not wind.**

Hissing, Naruto started over, desperately trying to draw his chakra through the overwhelming blaze of demon power.

The Nibi's attack looked fully charged—

The form of the demon cat slowly started to split, the tear deepening and widening as it rose from the giant feline's belly towards its spine. It howled in agony, dispersing its attack into disjointed and marginally less dangerous jets of wild flame. But then the cut failed, and the ragged furrow started to close up. Nibi was much thicker than a relatively thin curtain of falling water.

**"YOU!"** Nibi rasped, sluggishly turning around to face him. **"DIE!"**

This fireball was smaller, a knee-jerk reaction most likely. It exploded from the cat's mouth with the command of: DIE! Naruto didn't have much time to move.

But he didn't bother.

* * *

Shikamaru felt the leaden weight of despair slowly crush him as the fireball slammed into Naruto. There was no hint that Naruto had dodged, or even tried to. Surely he could have…

He looked away.

_…So much for our chances of making it out of this alive._

The cat demon sniffed, turned back towards them, and slowly, purposefully, stalked in their direction.

But it was limping.

Finally, it seemed, the demon was beginning to tire. However, there was no one who could really take advantage of that. Hyuuga Hiashi was all but spent, Shibi barely had any effect on the demon, and his and Ino's dads were even less useful in their current situation. Tenten had clawed her way back to consciousness, but she was in no shape to fight, nor were any other members of the younger squad.

_Troublesome… Mom's gonna nag us forever in the next life once she catches up to us. What a drag._

**"And now it's time to clean up…"** the demon purred, panting raggedly.

The blue beast lurched towards them—and stumbled. It turned and Shikamaru could see what looked like a large, knotted tree root curled around one of its back legs. The demon hissed and tried to pull free…with no success.

_Eh?_ Shikamaru blinked owlishly in the poor light. _Shouldn't its body burn through that wood?_

Another woody root exploded from the ground and coiled around one of the demon's front legs. The two-tailed cat howled and struggled harder—hissing and thrashing and looking exactly like an angry, overgrown housecat. Surprisingly, the wood held fast.

"What?" Ino squeaked. "What's going on?"

"_Mokuton,_" Hiashi grunted. "The kekkei genkai of the Senju clan. But that power has been lost…"

"A lost blood line," Shino seemed to muse.

"The blood line of the Shodai Hokage," Shibi interjected.

"He grew the forests that protect the village and built the village," Inoichi muttered, paraphrasing an old lesson from the Academy in an awed sort of daze.

A third wooden root shot up from the ground and wrapped around the flailing demon's neck. It shrieked and bucked harder, clearly panicking. One lashing tail managed a solid hit to a nearby tree…and dislodged a mystery ninja.

Whoever he was, was wholly unfamiliar to Shikamaru. The binding wood seemed to grow brittle and crack, but then the stranger ran through some hand signs and the bindings solidified and tightened. A fourth woody tendril appeared and managed to ensnare one of the demon tails.

"Who is that?" Shikaku grunted.

"I don't know him," Inoichi frowned. "He really doesn't look anything like the Shodai…"

"He is unfamiliar to me," Shibi remarked.

"I have not encountered him before," Hiashi frowned, picking distractedly at a charred sleeve. "And I have met the remaining members of the Senju clan—he is not one of them."

"How can that wood stand up to that?" Tenten wheezed, clutching at her side.

"Impossible!" the bound Taro swore, and was swiftly elbowed to shut him up.

The Nibi demon bellowed, its malevolent yellow eyes fixated on its shinobi jailor, and belched fire at him. A small screen of wooden logs shielded him from the attack, but was more or less obliterated by the fireball. Undeterred, the demon launched another and another and another in rapid enough succession to overwhelm the slower regenerating wooden shield.

There was an explosion of fire and a defiant yell and it seemed certain that their _Mokuton_-gifted savior had surely been incinerated. The sense of hope that had started to build at the demon feline's entrapment fizzled away. But when the blinding glare of fire faded…

Naruto stood there, shielding the mystery shinobi! Both were completely unharmed, and Naruto was still enveloped by the red chakra fox shape with two lashing tails. Everyone—even the cat demon and the wood-shinobi—seemed shocked to see him there.

**"Damn you!"** the cat railed, struggling much more weakly against its restraints. **"Why won't you die?!"**

"I have too much important stuff to do to just lay down and die!" Naruto shot back.

Yowling in inarticulate fury, the demon vomited another fireball at Naruto and the wood-shinobi. Naruto didn't budge. He seemed to yell…and the fireball broke apart into a harmless light show.

"Whoa," Shikamaru breathed, thoroughly impressed. _Was that what he did earlier when he cut into the cat's flank to keep it from cooking us? I didn't hear any yelling coming from him then…_

**"I will not lose!"** the demon vowed.

Yet another woody tentacle pinned a third of the big cat's feet to the earth.

"Looks like you're losing to me," a new voice drawled.

Shikamaru snapped his head around and found Hatake Kakashi perched on a nearby branch, calmly observing the scene as if he were bored by it. The only thing that spoiled that image, Shikamaru noticed, was that his Sharingan eye was uncovered. And his infamous orange book was nowhere to be seen.

"Submit, Nibi no Nekomata," the mystery shinobi ordered. "You cannot win."

**"You are not victorious yet!"** the feline roared hysterically. **"I will crush you all!"**

The ground seemed to rumble, and then again, and again—as if they were the footfalls of a terrible giant. There was a whooshing sound, the sharp hiss of a blade cutting through things, and then a huge section of the forest canopy fell away to reveal a large swath of the night sky. A massive black shape blotted out a chunk of stars, and slowly came into focus in the dim light of the hunter's moon.

It was a gargantuan toad that _towered over the trees!_ In its warty, webbed hands was a massive knife, or perhaps it was a (relatively) small sword. Poking out of its wide mouth was a large clay pipe with a healthy stream of smoke rising from it. And on its broad head stood the tiny figure of a man…

"Hokage-sama," Shikaku muttered.

"The Hokage's here?!" the stringy Kumo-nin squeaked in horror. "We're all going to die! He's a butcher of men!"

"Silence!" Hiashi snapped. "Or I will paralyze your vocal cords!"

Taro's accomplice did not shut up; he continued to babble about how bloodthirsty the Yondaime Hokage was until Hiashi carried out his threat. Taro himself said nothing, but even in the poor light it was obvious that his dark-hued skin was ashen gray. Even the hysterically thrashing cat demon seemed to quail a bit at the mighty 'Kage's presence.

"Submit," the Hokage commanded icily, somehow easily audible from his lofty perch. "Or you will be subdued."

Shikamaru shivered; on his back he could feel Hinata trembling uncontrollably. He knew—they all knew—that the Yondaime was a shinobi of great renown, a man who had been instrumental in bringing Iwagakure no Sato to its knees in the last war. He'd brought down small armies single-handedly! But he'd always seemed so kind, gentle, peaceful. He rarely yelled, rarely even raised his voice. It was so disturbing to suddenly catch a glimpse of the terrifying warrior that he truly was.

"Submit!" the Hokage repeated harshly.

The mountainous toad subtly shifted its massive blade into a more aggressive stance and puffed on its pipe.

The demon hesitated for a long moment, before letting out a faint wail of despair and dissolving in on itself. The thing just sort of sputtered out and shrank in on itself. And when the blue flames cleared…there sat the Kumo kunoichi.

Her blonde hair was loose from its ponytail and bandage wrappings and in a wild mess down her back. She was dirty and sweaty and clearly spent. But more than anything she looked humiliated.

"I submit to your mercy, Hokage-sama," she said quietly.

The toad lowered its blade, and the Hokage gracefully dismounted its head. Kakashi and the mystery shinobi converged with the Hokage on the Kumo kunoichi and began the process of binding her. Considering the vast destructive forces at her disposal, she would need special handling to keep her neutralized.

Suddenly Shikamaru felt lightheaded. He was tired, sore, wounded, _but he was alive._ Somehow, someway, he was alive—they all were alive!—and the fight was over.

_How did that happen?_ he wondered dazedly.

* * *

Naruto grinned fiercely as Yugito was tied up. It was over. The crazy cat girl had lost. And Hinata wasn't going to be carried off to live unhappily ever after in Kumogakure no Sato, making babies for the enemy. They'd won.

He wanted to shout and do a dance. But he was paradoxically tired in spite of the insane amount of chakra surging through him; his body burned, his joints ached, and his numerous bruises throbbed. And as his discomfort gave him pause to think, he decided a little celebrating was a bad idea. Kakashi-sensei and Yamato and his dad were being very serious and grim and no one else seemed to be cheering, so he shouldn't either.

It was really weird seeing Yamato's face. He wondered why the ANBU member was dressed as a regular jounin instead of his usual uniform. If he hadn't seen the man use _Mokuton_ powers, he might've doubted his identification of the shinobi. Hearing him speak had doubly confirmed his identity.

Once Yugito was all tied up—she was bound with bits of wood and a ton of chakra-suppressing seals—Kakashi-sensei jumped off to apparently check on everyone else…wherever they were, Yamato stood guard over the prisoner, and his dad looked around at the damaged trees. His father was in full, super-serious Hokage mode. He looked grim and forbidding and angry. And then he turned the full force of that look on Naruto.

A stab of panic struck him. The forest was trashed—he was using so very much of the demon's power—he was using the demon's power in front of other people—his new clothes were trashed—had something gone wrong?—had someone gotten hurt?—had someone died?—was his little deal for the fox's power wrong? …He was in trouble.

_Thanks for the chakra and all, but the fight's over so take it back!_

**…As you wish.**

And then it was gone. The fox cloak snuffed out, the fiery strength turned to frozen emptiness, and everything suddenly hurt so much worse. He gasped, wobbled, and fell down, down, down into a black void…

* * *

Minato knelt on the ground and silently checked his son over for any serious injury. For a moment, he'd been worried—seeing a rather malicious smile on the boy's face and _two_ tails of chakra. But Naruto had almost instantly crumbled under his projected expression of a stern, righteously angry Hokage. Obito had called it his _super scary, super bad-ass ninja game face_ so very long ago…

_I'm sorry, Naruto,_ he wanted to say. _I didn't mean to scare you._ But he couldn't. Not only was Naruto out cold, but there were other people present.

If there had only been Konoha-nin in the vicinity, he would've let himself drop the act and be the worried father. However, there were up to four Kumo-nin held prisoner in the immediate area. They had been captured, there was no war between their two villages, and one of them was a Jinchuuriki. To preserve the peace, they would eventually be repatriated to Kumo, and they would take whatever they witnessed with them.

It was very likely that Naruto was going to get his own entry in the Kumo Bingo book after this. A genin with the power to stand up to a Jinchuuriki, with abilities that seemed to indicate that he was a Jinchuuriki himself, would definitely be a ninja to keep an eye on. And while being entered in an opposing village's Bingo book was something of an honor, it was a dubious one at best.

_My son, the target,_ he mentally sighed. _I wonder how long it will take Iwa to find out about him. They always keep an eye out for strong Leaf ninja… It eases their stung pride to kill them._

There were no broken bones that he could feel. Any cuts and gashes had been healed over by the rush of demon chakra. That left Naruto's injuries to be a lot of half-healed bruises, chakra exhaustion, and, paradoxically, lingering symptoms of chakra overload.

Seeing his son so battered brought to mind the aftermath of the Sasuke retrieval mission. That had been a real wake-up call. And it shouldn't have been. He should've been jolted out of his complacency earlier. He shouldn't have been complacent and careless where Naruto was concerned at all.

Naruto had been involved in numerous dangerous situations before. When he'd been small there had been the occasional riot, various "accidents", and a few less subtle assassination attempts. Those had tapered off as the wounds left by the Kyuubi's assault had begun to heal and become less raw.

Touji Mizuki really should've been the blow that pulled his head out of his work. The traitorous Academy teacher had not only subtly sabotaged Naruto's education, he had taken vicious advantage of the boy's desperation to be a ninja and made him a tool for the chuunin's treachery. Minato had caught Naruto trying to slip off with the scroll of kinjutsu, but had let the boy continue with jounin supervision in order to gather solid evidence of Mizuki's crimes. Inadvertently, that choice had allowed Mizuki to violate his law and tell Naruto that he _was_ the Kyuubi before Kakashi had managed to knock him out and drag him off to the ANBU prison. Thankfully, Umino Iruka had cleared up the half-truths that Mizuki had frightened Naruto with and left very few questions for Minato to answer afterwards.

Team 7's mission to Wave Country should've been another shock to his senses. The client had lied, there were multiple high-level opponents, and the mission had ended up reclassified as an A-rank—far above the abilities of any genin squad. There had been hard fighting, injuries, and Naruto had even managed to summon some fox chakra in the fight, but by the time they'd returned to the village, they were healed and Naruto seemed unchanged. Minato had been a little bothered by the mission report, and even went so far as to give Naruto one of his special kunai for future emergency use. But then the Chuunin Exams were coming up and Konoha was hosting and work swallowed his mind again.

Recently, he'd found the kunai he'd given Naruto kicked under the boy's bed while he'd been poking around, seeking inspiration for his son's upcoming birthday. It had probably never made it into the boy's weapon pouch. Minato liked to think Naruto had just forgotten about it; he was always in a rush and would sometimes be forgetful. He tried not to consider that maybe Naruto had purposely left the seal-marked kunai in his room because he didn't want the safety net that it provided, or didn't believe that Minato would appear if he used it.

The aftermath of the Chuunin Exams was yet a third instance that should've reminded him that he was a father, not just a Hokage. Naruto had been banged up after his fight with Gaara, and before that his fight with Neji had been very impressive, _but there'd been so much to do!_ For almost two solid weeks he'd slept in his office (when he had slept at all) and lived off coffee and adrenalin. He had damage to repair, ninja rosters to reorganize, and if Suna had wanted to continue the fight there was a potential war to wage. And then he'd had the bright idea of persuading Tsunade to come home and revamp the medic-nin training program, which sent Jiraiya and Naruto off on a wild goose chase, seeking the gambling Sannin.

_…And then Sasuke ran off._ Minato bit the inside of his cheek and forced his expression to remain stony, giving no hint of the guilt festering in his stomach. _Why did it take so much to finally get to me?_

"Hokage-sama." Kakashi dropped down beside him. "Two male shinobi of Kumo have been captured, the third was killed. None of our forces were lost, but most were injured, ranging from light to moderate. Hyuuga Hinata has been successfully recovered."

"Thank you, Kakashi," Minato nodded stiffly and very reluctantly handed Naruto over to him. "Yamato and I will escort the kunoichi to the ANBU prison and see that she is secured. You follow behind and lead the rest back to the village. Make sure the other prisoners make it to their cells and see that everyone that needs medical attention gets it."

"_Hai_," the masked shinobi nodded. He arranged Naruto on his back and moved to carry out his orders.

Minato rushed up a tree to speak to Gamabunta, who still crouched nearby. "Thank you for your help, Gamabunta." He bowed to the toad. "I know it wasn't much of a battle…"

**"That's alright,"** the mountainous amphibian rumbled and sheathed his weapon. **"It is late. I will depart."**

There was a massive explosion of white smoke that blotted out a huge swath of stars, and the mighty Summon was gone.

The Hokage sighed, and slid back down to the ground. He stalked over to the bound Jinchuuriki girl and took one arm. "Yamato" took the other, and she was levered to her feet.

"Move out," he ordered quietly, and they did so.

_I think this whole mess will go down as an A-rank…_


	21. Reverberations

**Chapter 20**_  
Reverberations_

It was black and he was tired. But he couldn't rest. Something was bothering him. Something…

…He was moving?

With a great deal of effort, he peeled his eyelids open and blearily glanced around. The sky was a deep gray with ghostly flickers of stars scattered about. He was slung over someone's back—piggy-back. He saw the back of a blonde head…

"Dad?" he croaked feebly.

"Oh, you're awake?" His dad turned his head slightly. "How do you feel?"

"Tired," Naruto mumbled, "sore." The final moments of the fight drifted back to the forefront of his mind and he wilted. "…I'm sorry."

"Sorry? Whatever for?"

"You looked mad…before." Naruto rested his cheek on his father's shoulder and stared off to the side. "I thought I did something wrong…?"

"Well…did you brag about village secrets to the enemy?"

"No."

"Did you attack your teammates?"

"No way!"

"You did your best during the mission?"

"Of course I did…"

"Well then, I can't see anything that you did wrong," his father announced cheerfully. "And preliminary reports say that you did an excellent job."

"But…you looked so mad…" Naruto shuddered. "You looked scary."

"I didn't mean to scare you," his dad apologized. "I only meant to intimidate the Kumo-nin." There was a pause. "And I was a little worried about you—what was that grin on your face for?"

"I was glad that it was over," Naruto sighed, his eyes drooping shut. "Glad that we won…an' everything." He yawned.

"Ah," the Hokage nodded.

Naruto snuggled into his father's back. His brain was feeling fuzzier and fuzzier. "We goin' to th' hospital now?"

"You were already there, Naruto," his father chuckled. "The doctors couldn't find any injury serious enough to keep you there, so I'm taking you home. All you need is rest."

"Oh… Okay…"

"Go back to sleep, son. You did well. We'll talk more about it later, okay?"

"Mmm…" Naruto mumbled.

And then he was out again.

* * *

The Hokage yawned and took a good gulp of coffee. _And here I thought that one of the perks of being Hokage would be a more stable sleep cycle._ He sank back into his worn leather chair and scrubbed a hand over his face. _Oh well…_

It had been a few days since Kumo's botched kidnapping attempt and things were just barely starting to settle down. The three prisoners were all secured and a message sent to Kumogakure to start negotiations with the Raikage about returning them. All the injured were being treated and most would soon be released from the hospital. And Naruto was starting to spend slightly more time awake than asleep.

A knock on his door distracted him from trying to focus on his paperwork.

"Come in."

Nara Shikaku slunk inside, and shut the door behind him. "Hokage-sama," he nodded politely.

"Shikaku-san," Minato smiled, equally polite. "What can I do for you?"

"It's far too troublesome to try and dance around this," the scarred man grunted. "Permission to be blunt?"

Minato blinked. "Of course."

"You're going to have to tell the kids something. They saw too much of what that boy can do to avoid it. If you don't satisfy their curiosity, they'll just start asking dangerous questions." The Nara man's frown deepened. "My boy's already been asking around, actually."

"Yes, I've noticed," Minato sighed wearily.

Shikaku shifted anxiously. "I told him to stop poking around about that boy—"

"It's fine," he assured the man. "Shikamaru's a smart boy—at the very least I can trust him with most of truth. Some of the others I'm less sure of, but…" He sighed and ran a hand through his messy hair. "I'll figure out something to tell them," the Hokage muttered finally.

Shikaku nodded, "Alright."

Minato swallowed a groan and took a gulp of coffee. _There's always something…_

The Nara man started to leave, but hesitated. "When Shikamaru first started asking those troublesome questions, he asked about the boy's family. I didn't tell him anything, but…it makes me realize that I haven't seen Kushina around in a long time. I don't think Inoichi or Chouza have either. Do you know what's going on with her?"

His heart twisted up and he stared fixedly into his coffee mug. "She's dead," he said hollowly. _Why does it still hurt so much?_

"Damn," Shikaku grumbled. "I was afraid of that. The demon got her, eh? Figures…"

Minato snorted bitterly. "No, actually; it didn't."

"Really?" Shikaku's usual lazy tone was light with surprise. "A bad mission, then?"

"Not that either." The Hokage chuckled bitterly. "It was the last thing most people would expect."

"What, childbirth?" Shikaku drawled, half-joking.

"Yeah," he nodded and polished off the last of his coffee.

Minato stared into the bottom of the cup for a while, before glancing up at his visitor. It was almost comical to see the Nara's usual half-lidded look replaced with something more wide-eyed. There was shock at this unexpected information, amusement at the odd pairing, and of course sadness and sympathy for the loss, which restrained any laughter or other overt reaction.

"I'd appreciate it if you don't spread around whatever you end up deducing from that," Minato smiled tiredly. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to get more coffee."

"Of course," Shikaku muttered and sketched a shallow bow. "I should get home so Yoshino can nag me some more…troublesome woman."

"Enjoy," the Hokage chuckled drily, forcing down a tiny spark of jealousy. _I wish Kushina was still around to nag __**me**__! Even though her idea of "nag" was to punch me…_

* * *

Naruto frowned blankly at the GAME OVER screen, the game controller limp in his hands. He wasn't really upset at losing (again)—it had been a long time since he'd played so he was sorely out of practice. His frown was due to the unhappy line of thought that had struck him shortly after his game character had been slaughtered.

They might have seen something. Heck, they _probably_ had seen something. And even if they hadn't directly seen him use the fox's chakra, they would have to suspect something for him to have survived combat with the giant cat demon, let alone held his own against it. No normal genin could do that. His friends weren't stupid.

It had been several days since the big fight, and he was feeling a lot better. Aside from a few faded bruises and some soreness he was fine. And even though none of his friends had a demon to heal them up, they would probably be released soon, depending on their individual injuries. Any day now he was bound to run into at least one of them.

_What am I going to tell them?_ He slumped down off the edge of his mattress. _What can I tell them?_

**If they cannot handle the truth, why bother with them?** the fox sneered.

"I'm not like you," Naruto mumbled and stabbed the power button on the game console. "I hate being alone…"

* * *

Shikamaru leaned lazily against the hospital wall as Ino cheerfully gossiped poor Hinata's ear off as the girl sat on her bed. Nearby, Shino sat on his own hospital cot. He looked rather strange without his signature coat, but for some reason he still had his shades. It was difficult to tell if he was actually paying attention to the girls or not. And in the next bed over was Tenten, also looking strange with her hair down out of their usual buns. The young weapon mistress sat very still, trying not to aggravate her broken ribs. Neji sat in a chair near her bed, displaced from his cousin's side by Ino.

His arm was mostly healed from the improvised mission and he'd originally come to the hospital with Ino to help her deliver all their hospital-bound comrades flowers from her family's shop. But after passing out the flowers, Ino settled herself in for a long chat—mostly with Hinata, whose meek temperament allowed Ino to do most of the talking. Shikamaru had exchanged some words with Neji and Shino and a polite greeting with Tenten, but otherwise was content to let Ino do all the socializing. He considered leaving, but he had some chores waiting at home and procrastinating them was currently the less troublesome option.

"…and just this morning I heard a couple of girls our age trying to figure out some way to get into the Hyuuga compound and visit Sasuke-kun," Ino chattered on. "Can you believe that?!"

"They would never make it past the outside walls," Neji scoffed.

"I don't see why they're still after him," Shikamaru grumbled. "Surely they've heard that he's a traitor by now."

"They probably think they can save him or change him somehow," Tenten snorted, and then winced as her ribs protested. "And once they've healed his broken soul, he'll be their prince charming and they'll live happily ever after as 'Mrs. Uchiha' or something."

"Probably," Ino agreed. "He's good-looking, from a good family with lots of money, and landing him would make one lucky girl into a near princess. There are some girls that overlook just about anything to get a guy like him and the social prestige that comes with him."

Shikamaru squinted at his teammate. "What about you?"

"I'm through with him," Ino sniffed. "I'm not chasing after a traitor, no matter how pretty he is! Besides, if anyone could snag him, I'd put my money on Billboard Brow. Even though he did betray us all, he said good-bye to her—no one else."

"It could've been chance that she caught him as he was leaving," Tenten suggested.

"Maybe," Ino shrugged. "But anyway, I'm through with Uchiha Sasuke!" she declared boldly. "There are plenty of other nice, handsome boys out there—boys who aren't lousy traitors. And I bet I'll get myself a boyfriend before Forehead Girl, too!"

_You always have to compete with her, don't you?_ Shikamaru sighed.

"I-Ino-san," Hinata timidly squeaked. "H-have you s-seen N-Naruto-kun? He's n-not in the hospital…"

"No." Ino frowned. "With how wiped out he looked after the battle how isn't he in the hospital? Are you sure they just didn't put him in another room?"

"I l-looked…with m-my Byakugan." Hinata stared fixedly at her tapping index fingers. "H-he's not here."

"Well I haven't seen him," Ino shrugged.

"He's probably recovering at home," Shikamaru suggested.

"If he's allowed to heal at home, he must not be badly hurt," Tenten observed. "Lucky guy…"

"Not just lucky," Shino remarked, adjusting his shades. "To withstand such a devastating foe, he must a comparable power in addition to luck, at the very least."

_"A comparable power" indeed,_ Shikamaru nodded. _It's almost certain that Naruto hosts the Kyuubi no Yoko,_ he thought, recalling the fox-like shape the chakra had taken. _It's the only thing that really explains everything that needs explaining… Except the family situation._

"Shikamaru-san," Neji interjected. "From what you experienced of the battle, are your theories confirmed?"

"I believe so," the young Nara sighed.

"Theories?" Hinata blinked. "W-what theories?"

"Theories on Naruto's background," Shikamaru replied. "Why people seem to treat him the way that they do…"

"Like that s-shopkeeper?" Hinata asked softly.

"What shopkeeper?"

Shikamaru snapped his head around to find the Hokage peering into the hospital room with a frown on his face. His sharp blue eyes swept over them. "Well?"

Ino was the first to recover her wits from the surprise and immediately launched into a fairly accurate retelling of the incident. As he listened, the Hokage seemed to gain a few years of age. When Ino finished, the older shinobi looked angry, but mostly tired.

"Were you aware of such problems, Hokage-sama?" Shino hesitantly asked after a long stretch of silence.

"Yes," the Hokage sighed. He fully entered the room, slid the door solidly shut behind him, and settled into one of the plastic visitors' chairs. "In the past it was a common problem, but Naruto stopped complaining about it and I foolishly assumed that the village business owners were finally through being so petty."

"…You knew shop owners would do this and you didn't do anything about it?" Tenten asked, rather boldly.

"There isn't too much I can realistically do." The Hokage tried to smile, but it came off more as a pained grimace. "The villagers treat Naruto the way that they do because they feel they have a legitimate reason to do so. No matter how I threaten them for what they do, they'll continue to do what they do when they feel they have the opportunity to get away with it. Until they change their minds about Naruto, they will keep on being unfair to him. You can't change a person's opinions by force; if I could, I would gladly go around to every shop owner, hold a kunai to their throat, and order them to like Naruto."

The Hokage had a point. It made perfect sense. And Shikamaru hated it all the more because the man was right.

"Well, onto the real point of my visit," the Yondaime sighed, managing a more friendly smile. "I'd like to congratulate you all on your performance in getting Hinata back home. Without your timely response, and your efforts to relay intelligence back to the village, it's very possible that Hinata could've been smuggled into the Land of Lightning or that lives could've been lost."

"I-I'm s-s-sorry f-for—"

"There's no need to apologize, Hinata," the Hokage reassured the trembling girl. "You had no reason to suspect that you were in danger while still within the bounds of the village. I don't feel that it's your fault at all. And you certainly didn't do it on purpose, so there's no reason for you to be sorry."

The Hyuuga girl seemed to shrink in on herself. "But O-otou-sama said…"

"I think your father has trouble openly expressing what he really feels. As the head of such a prestigious clan, he's expected to put up a stoic face at all times, so when a situation comes up where he needs a gentler face, he's not sure how to go about it." The Hokage looked thoughtful for a moment. "I think that he was very worried about you, but he wasn't sure how to show it so he hid it behind criticism."

Hinata stared at the ninja leader, wide-eyed.

"He might have done that," Neji reluctantly admitted after some thought.

"Oh." Hinata fiddled with the sleeve of her hospital pajamas before scrapping together the courage to ask a question. "H-Hokage-sama…w-where is N-Naruto-kun?"

"He's at home. I think in another day or two he should be recovered enough to get back on active duty." He gave her a questioning look. "Why do you ask?"

"I w-was worried," Hinata half-whispered. "He just s-sort of…fell down."

"Kind of like a puppet with its strings cut," Ino helpfully interjected.

"Well he'll be just fine," the Hokage assured them. "Feel free to visit him if you like. I think he'd enjoy that. He doesn't seem to get many visitors." He sat back in his chair and studied them all for a long moment. "Now, do you have any questions about anything you saw in the course of your recent mission?"

Shikamaru considered his options before speaking up. "Hokage-sama, how many demons are there out there?"

The Hokage seemed surprised at the question, but answered nonetheless. "A lot; however, most are fairly weak and live in remote regions, away from humans. There are a few who are strong enough to be fearless and still roam around human territories. They are called the Bijuu and there are nine of them—each one stronger than the last."

_Nine of them? "Tailed Beasts"?_ Shikamaru frowned thoughtfully. "So the Kyuubi no Yoko is the strongest of them?"

"Yes," the Yondaime nodded.

"And the Nibi no Nekomata is one of the weaker of these Bijuu?" Shino inquired.

"Yes."

That certainly put things into perspective. If the nearly unstoppable demon cat was _weak_, what had the demon fox been like? Shikamaru really couldn't imagine it, and respected his dad a whole lot more for having seen it and survived.

"Hokage-sama, earlier you said that the villagers feel that they have some legitimate reason to discriminate against Naruto. What is it?" Neji asked, voicing the question that the Hokage had probably been expecting before the demon question.

The older ninja gave them all a hard look before replying. "Before I answer, I need you all to promise that the information that I give you does not leave this room. This is an S-class village secret and you are not to share it with anyone who doesn't know unless you have permission to do so. Do you understand?"

They all agreed and swore their silence on the matter.

"It seems that some of you already suspect the answer, but…thirteen years ago the Kyuubi no Yoko was not destroyed as the textbooks say. Instead, the Sandaime Hokage sacrificed himself to power a jutsu strong enough to seal the demon's spirit into a vessel and end its rampage before it could reach the village. Naruto is that vessel. In light of the village's inability to handle this information, I had to classify it from the younger generations in hopes that they would treat Naruto without prejudice." The Hokage scowled slightly. "Of course, they've managed to find loopholes that keep Naruto the isolated village pariah…"

There was a long stretch of quiet as they all digested this information.

"…U-um…um, H-Hokage-sama?"

"Yes, Hinata?"

"If N-Naruto-kun keeps the K-Kyuubi s-sealed, why do the v-villagers dislike him so? S-shouldn't they be g-glad f-for what he does?"

"Ah, if only everyone thought as you do," he smiled sadly. "The civilian villagers at least have ignorance as an excuse. Even though I assure them that the Kyuubi will never escape and stalk them again, they really don't understand that Naruto is the dominant force—that the Kyuubi is subservient to him. Some seem to think that the Kyuubi has devoured Naruto's soul and possesses his body like a human skin. And some think that he was never human at all, just the Kyuubi locked into a human shape."

"But…Naruto-kun is Naruto-kun," Hinata blinked, baffled.

"I know," the Hokage chuckled. "I'm glad you think so, too."

"What of the ninja who know?" Shino frowned. "What is their excuse for their dislike of Naruto?"

"They have lost friends and family members to the demon, and as it is out of reach, they see Naruto as an acceptable scapegoat for the rage they feel at the Kyuubi." He shook his head. "They never bother to think that Naruto has nothing to do with what the demon did, and that he's just a boy."

"That's horrible!" Ino sputtered. "It's totally unfair!"

"Is there anything we can do to help?" Tenten asked.

"Be his friend," the Yondaime replied. "He's finally found some friends—friends his own age. His greatest fear is to lose you, and be lonely again."

"No problem!" Ino declared. "We can do that just fine."

There was no dissent with her statement.

"Thank you; Naruto will appreciate that." The Hokage stood up and stretched out his back.

"Should we let Naruto know that we know?" Shikamaru asked. "He'd get edgy the few times I mentioned noticing people giving him a hard time."

"If you can find a way to let him know without making a big deal about it…that would probably be best." The Hokage started to open the door to leave, but hesitated. "Remember, you're not to tell anyone about this who doesn't know—not even your teammates. Naruto has to tell them himself, or give you permission to tell them. I'm sure he'll be furious with me for telling you without getting his permission first." He nodded to them and stepped out into the hallway. "Have a nice day."

They said their farewells, and then a pensive silence fell over the room—each of them lost in their own thoughts.

"Just 'be his friend'?" Ino sighed. "Is that really all we can do?"

"It's a starting point, at least." Shikamaru yawned and pushed off from the wall. "Naruto's birthday is in a few weeks. Let's see what we can do with that."


	22. Flowers for Mommy

**Chapter 21**_  
Flowers for Mommy_

Naruto shuffled along the streets of the village with no particular destination in mind. It was early October now, and he had less than a week until his birthday. He really wasn't looking forward to it.

_Maybe I could get Jiji to give me a mission so I'll be out of the village on the tenth,_ he mused. _But with Sasuke-teme in trouble, and Sakura-chan so busy studying under Tsunade-baa-chan, there really isn't much of a team to go on a mission with. And I wouldn't want to drag anyone else's team out of the village and make them miss the big party…_

"I guess I'll just be staying home all day again."

That was always how he spent his birthday, but that didn't mean he found it the least bit enjoyable.

Attempting to attend the Kyuubi Festival was out of the question. The only time he'd tried, he's sparked a riot. And even if that didn't happen, he really didn't feel like taking the usual crap (or worse than usual crap) on his birthday.

Just leaving the house on the dreaded tenth of October was not something he dared, so that eliminated training and just about anything else he could do out of doors. The Hokage Manor was one of the most secure private residences in the village, and even when no one was home, there was always at least one ANBU on guard duty to watch over the valuable contents of the house. But that didn't mean that determined intruders couldn't get close enough to try something.

It was going to be another long, boring, and depressing birthday, but at least he'd gotten through his elemental training. The very day that his dad had let him get back to training, he'd taken the waterfall down without much trouble. He'd then been presented with a few scrolls containing basic to intermediate-level _Fuuton_ jutsu.

_"These don't look too hard; why can't I try some higher-level jutsu, Jiji?"_

_"Well if they're so easy, it shouldn't take you long at all to master them and then you'll be even more prepared to take on those tougher, more destructive techniques."_

Naruto snorted and kicked at a pebble as he walked. _Darn it, it's going to take forever to learn anything really cool… But I'm not going to give up!_

"Maybe…maybe I'll get a cool jutsu for my birthday!"

That idea made him grin. It was a real possibility as all his previous presents were shinobi related in some way. When he'd been a baby, it had been harmless wooden kunai and shuriken; when he'd been in the Academy, it had been practice kunai, shuriken, and school supplies; and now that he was a full genin, he was likely to get real kunai, shuriken, and ninja gear.

Cool presents were the only thing that kept his birthday from being a total bust. His dad would get him something, of course; but he also got stuff from his ANBU minders, too. More recently Iruka-sensei would give him a little something a day or so beforehand—he never dared trust any package left on his doorstep.

Wrinkling his nose, he paused in his aimless walking and looked around to see where he'd ended up.

He found himself near the entrance of one of Konohagakure no Sato's cemeteries; the ninja cemetery, where only shinobi and kunoichi could be buried. Naruto almost walked away—wandering around a field of buried corpses was not something that interested him in the least. But then the fuzzy recollection of a dream (or was it a memory?) where he'd visited his mother's tombstone, and he thought: _Eh, why not?_

It somehow seemed quieter beyond the cemetery gates. It made him think of the hallowed atmosphere around the KIA monument, only it was an entire field of stones instead of small clearing with one rock in it. Naruto wasn't quite decided on whether he found the place creepy or peaceful.

The blonde boy padded from stone to stone, casually studying the inscriptions. He had no idea where he should look to find his mother's grave, so he just wandered. It was actually kind of interesting, to see all the different kinds of tombstones there were. Some were tiny and plain, just a name and some dates; some were large and ornate, intricate carvings and lengthy epitaphs; some were new; some were weathered; some had flowers and incense and various offerings; some were clearly neglected and forgotten; some were interesting; and some weren't.

Naruto was sniffing curiously at the burned stubs of some incense sticks at the base of a well-loved grave when he caught a movement out of the corner of his eye. He peered around the stone to see someone familiar. Hinata was nearby, a bouquet of fresh flowers in her hands, and a particular destination clearly in her mind.

Intensely curious, Naruto followed her, careful not to alert her to his presence. It probably wasn't polite to spy on her like this, but he really wanted to know what she was doing. Well, it being a graveyard, he could guess what she was doing, but…who was she paying her respects to?

She picked her way through the maze of stones, with ease. She probably came here fairly often. That made him even more curious.

Hinata came before one particular grave, placed her flowers, and knelt down. He thought she might be whispering to it, but he didn't move closer to hear. If she was talking to the dead, there was no way that he was going to offend the spirit by trying to eavesdrop. He would wait until she was finished.

_Should I wait?_ he frowned. _If she saw the fight…_ He squirmed. _Maybe…maybe she was still in the bag, and missed everything. …I hope she was._

After a while, she straightened up and turned to leave—

"N-Naruto-kun!" she yelped, upon catching sight of him. "W-what—"

"Hi Hinata!" he waved cheerfully. "What are you doing out here?"

She stared at him wide-eyed, and he started to worry that maybe she _had_ seen something…

"I…I was…I c-came to s-see my mother," she managed to choke out, dropping her eyes to the short grass and fidgeting with her fingers.

He blinked. "Your mom?"

"Y-yes." She swallowed. "She died a-after my sister was born…"

"Well that sucks." Naruto awkwardly rubbed at the back of his head. "Uh…I'm sorry."

"It-it's alright," she mumbled.

Silence fell between them. Naruto hated silence. It made him think of his empty house and loneliness. He was compelled to break it.

"Uh…did you know your mom?"

"A l-little," she mumbled softly, forcing Naruto to move closer to hear her.

"Lucky," he muttered to himself.

Aside from a few scraps of information and the photograph in his dad's bedroom, he really didn't know anything about his mother. Asking questions about her didn't get him much in the way of answers, and he'd noticed that bringing her up upset his dad. So he stopped asking and tried to convince himself that he didn't care; it was pointless to try and get to know a dead person. But a part of himself was still curious about the smiling woman in the picture with the hair that was as red as blood…

"N-Naruto-kun? Your mother is d-dead, too?"

"Yeah," he shrugged. "She died when I was born."

"O-oh." She shifted nervously. "Have you c-come to see her?"

"I guess; if I can find her grave." Naruto rubbed at his cheek, suddenly embarrassed that he really didn't have any idea where his own mother was buried.

"Um…u-um…" Hinata swallowed hard. "Maybe…I can help?"

"Eh?" he blinked. "Really?"

"What-what's her name?"

Naruto opened his mouth…and closed it again. "Uh…Uzumaki…something."

"O-okay." She wove her fingers into a seal, activated her Byakugan eyes, and started to slowly scan her surroundings.

Naruto was puzzled. _Is she looking for enemies? The only enemies you'd run into in a graveyard would be zombies…or maybe vampires. But in the middle of the day?_

Eventually she relaxed her eyes and point off in a seemingly random direction. "I…I think we s-should check o-over that way."

He shrugged. "Okay."

Hinata led the way, carefully picking her way along the gravelly cemetery paths. Naruto followed after her, still rather confused. They came to a rather barren corner of the cemetery, where a lonely stone sat on a tiny hill under the shade of a young tree.

"Is-is this it?" she asked timidly, brushing a few fallen leaves off the top of the stone.

Naruto blinked, then stared at the inscription. The name read: _Uzumaki Kushina_. The date of death was October tenth, the very year that he was born. There were three symbols carved into the stone: the swirled leaf of Konoha, the tight spiral circle that reminded him of his white Uzumaki clan patch, and a third swirly symbol that he didn't recognize.

"Yeah, this is it."

He wondered if he was supposed to feel something special being here. Was there supposed to be some magical peace, a soothing presence? He really didn't feel anything.

Hinata hesitantly knelt down and pulled out a few weeds that were growing on the grave. Naruto quickly moved to help. While the groundskeepers for the cemetery had kept the grass trimmed and removed the worst of the weeds; that was clearly the only care this spot had received. His dad—who _had_ to know where the plot was—had obviously not been here in a long time…

_Of course he wouldn't come here,_ Naruto thought. _If he can't even talk about her, why would he come to a place that does nothing but remind him that she's dead. I don't think I'd want to, if I were him._

"I should've brought flowers," Naruto frowned. "I wonder…if dandelions would be okay?"

"Well…n-now that you know where h-her grave is, you c-can always come back with f-flowers," Hinata softly suggested.

He considered this thoroughly. Cut flowers, no matter how nice, didn't last very long, especially without a water-filled vase. And seeing how neglected this place was, something longer lasting would be better…

_I got it!_ "Hey, Hinata! Can you help me with something?"

She was so startled by his outburst that she didn't seem able to speak, but she did manage to nod her agreement.

"Great!" he grinned wildly and grabbed her hand. "Come on!"

* * *

Uchiha Sasuke sat in the small room given to him within the Hyuuga compound. It was daytime, but he'd left the lights off. He preferred it dark; that way he didn't have to see that he wasn't in his room, that he was a prisoner trapped in the walls of a rival clan.

Clan pride demanded that he stay strong and show no weak emotion. As he was effectively powerless and unable to escape, he had to wait. It was hard though, so hard. All he wanted to do was run out of here, run home to the Uchiha District, and hide under his bed in shame.

He had failed—utterly failed. He failed to protect his parents from his brother. He failed to distinguish himself enough during the Chuunin Exams and earn a promotion. He had failed to defeat Subaku no Gaara. He had failed to impress his brother when he and that shark-man had come to apparently abduct Naruto. He had failed to escape to Orochimaru and gain the power necessary to avenge his slaughtered clan.

He had failed.

Bitter tears stung at his eyes, but he choked them back. He was an Uchiha. Uchihas didn't cry.

So he sat alone in the dark and tried not to think of his pathetic porn-reading sensei, or his pathetic fan-girl teammate, or his infinitely pathetic orange-clad "rival"…or how pathetic he was for failing so badly, so consistently, and for missing them at all.

* * *

Hinata watched as Naruto used a kunai to dig holes in the earth around the edges of his mother's tombstone. When the hole that he was working on was deep enough, she selected a flower bulb from one of the bags he'd bought, put it in the dirt, and cover it up while he started another hole. When spring came, there would be flowers.

It was all Naruto's idea. He'd pulled her into a flower shop and asked for her help in selecting perennial flowers that would bloom year after year to plant at his mother's grave. Unfortunately, he had no idea what any of his mother's preferences had been in regards to flowers and colors, and determined to at least make her tiny garden pretty, sought her female advice.

_"W-why me?!"_

_"You found those awesome clothes for me so I know you can help me pick out the best flowers ever!"_

Impossibly flattered by his faith in her, and determined not to let him down, she'd set to work. Delicate white crocuses would be the first to bloom in the earliest spring, followed soon after by the butter yellow daffodils and then the blood red tulips. And for most of the summer, a few red-orange day lilies would do nicely. While she wasn't well versed in the secret meanings of flowers like Ino, she'd gone more for what would be aesthetically pleasing and would hopefully keep a few flowers blooming at all times.

Naruto had heartily approved of all her selections, and was doubly excited by her finding some orange flowers. He'd cheerfully emptied his cute frog wallet to pay for them all, as well as a small bundle of white lilies to tide his mother over until next spring. And then he'd dragged her right back, insisting that they plant the bulbs right away, and pleading for her help in arranging them.

_This is a good idea,_ she thought. _When I have time, I think I'll transplant some of mother's flowers from her garden to her grave. I'm sure that she would love to have a piece of her favorite garden with her…_

"Thanks again for your help, Hinata," Naruto grinned as he scratched out the last hole. "I totally would've just planted them in a bunch of holes and they would've grown in as a mess."

"Glad I c-could help, Naruto-kun," she managed a smile and placed the last flower bulb.

"Yeah, well…" He frowned thoughtfully, and then his blue eyes seemed to shine with another idea. "Hey! How 'bout I buy you lunch as a thank you! I'll have to go home and get more money, but…"

_Buy me lunch? Like…a date?_

She blinked, wavered, and fainted.

* * *

Minato sighed as he casually strolled along the village streets on his lunch break. It was nice to get fresh air every now and then, especially after hours of dull paperwork. Some rice and dumplings, and then a peaceful stroll was just what he needed. It would be a little better if every other person on the street didn't stop him and great him, but that was one of the perils of being Hokage: popularity.

It was a nice day for October. Snow rarely fell in the Land of Fire, but it did get noticeably cooler in the fall and winter months. And it was generally gloomy, sometimes rainy. So a sunny, warm day in October was very nice.

_Should I pick up some dango before returning to the office?_ he wondered as he paused across the street from his favorite dango shop. _Hmm…maybe—_

"Naruto?!"

His son had almost collided with him as he scampered down the street. He had Hinata hiked up on his back, and unconscious. Their hands were dirty and they looked a bit disheveled.

Minato's impression was that Naruto had engaged her in a spar, she wasn't as recovered as everyone thought or Naruto had gotten a lucky hit in, and she was out for the count, leaving Naruto to convey her to the hospital.

"What are you doing?"

Naruto stared up at him, eyes wide and frantic. "Hinata helped me out, so I offered to buy her lunch, and she fainted!"

"She helped you?" Minato blinked. "With what?"

"Planting flowers."

Minato was briefly speechless. _Well, that explains their dirty hands… Not the fainting, though._ He tentatively felt the inert girl's forehead, but found no trace of fever. _She's not sick, so… So…_

His current ANBU shadows dropped down beside him—Yamato and Mouse. Mouse eased Hinata off Naruto's back and made a show of checking her over. Yamato leaned over to whisper to him.

"I'm sure she's fine," the feline-masked ninja murmured. "I think Naruto's invitation to lunch got her a little overexcited, that's all."

"Overexcited?" Minato repeated blankly.

"Hinata has a thing for Naruto," Yamato chuckled softly. "She probably mistook his innocent offer of lunch as a date or something."

"Oh?" Minato frowned thoughtfully. "…_Oh_. I see." _How cute; puppy love. At least, I hope it's just puppy love. I'd rather not have Hiashi trying to skin Naruto or something. Not yet anyway; they're too young._

"It's cute," Yamato snickered. "I keep an eye on it for Kakashi-sempai. Too bad Naruto's totally oblivious to it…"

Minato shook his head. _Poor girl. She's so shy, and Naruto seems committed to pursuing his teammate…_

"There's a pool on if and when he notices," the ANBU added as Mouse used some strong-scented herbs to revive the girl.

The Hokage scowled. _Ugh…_

Hinata sat up and dazedly looked around. "What…what h-happened?"

"We were going to get lunch and then you fainted!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Oh." The girl wilted and hung her head. "I-I'm s-sorry—"

"It's okay!" Naruto laughed. "If you're feeling better we can still go, if you want to."

"O-okay," she squeaked, fidgeting with her fingers. "But…d-didn't you say that y-you needed to get more m-money, N-Naruto-kun?"

The boy's shoulders sagged. "Oh yeah…" He pulled out his frog wallet, which was sadly flat. "I forgot."

Minato smothered a chuckle and fished out his own, rather dull-looking wallet. "What on earth did you spend all your money on?"

Naruto shrugged. "Flowers."

"What for?"

"Planting."

The Hokage frowned. _Why's he being so evasive? I don't think he can get into any mischief with flowers…right?_ "And where did you plant them?"

"…In the cemetery."

"What—"

"At his m-mother's g-grave," Hinata added nervously. "I h-h-helped."

_Well,_ he noted numbly,_ that explains the dirt on their hands…_

Naruto melted into a posture that just screamed guilt… But why should he feel guilty? He hadn't done anything wrong.

_He knows that the subject of his mother upsets me. That's why he didn't want to say what he was doing. That's probably why he doesn't even try to ask about her anymore._

Shaking off the numbing ache, he resolved to get past his silly block concerning Kushina—it was robbing his son of knowledge of his mother—and pulled himself back to the present. "That was very nice of you, Naruto. And thank you, Hinata, for assisting him." He pressed some Ryo notes into Naruto's small, grimy hand. "Have fun with your lunch, stay out of trouble, and wash your hands before you eat anything, okay?"

"Uh, okay!"

Naruto shoved the money into his pocket, grabbed Hinata's hand, and half-dragged her down the street in the general direction of _Ichiraku Ramen_.

"Mouse, if you would keep an eye on them…?"

Without any further prompting, the woman ANBU vanished.

"Well, that was all very interesting," Minato sighed.

"You have a little more than ten minutes to get back to the office," Yamato helpfully reminded him.

"Thanks," the Hokage sighed and started back towards the tower. Yamato casually strolled along beside him instead of returning to skulking among the rooftops. Minato barely noticed the company.

_Yet one more thing I have to make up to him. And I still have to decide what to give him for his birthday… Kunai and shuriken are too ordinary—everyone else will get him those._ He paused briefly as inspiration struck him. _…I could give him…yes, that'll be perfect._

He started walking again. _It's too bad I have to preside over the Kyuubi Festival—I'd give him a proper birthday party. A short visit at lunch really doesn't cut it…_

"Yamato, what does Naruto do on his birthday?"

There was a hesitation, which Minato found worrisome. "Nothing much, really."

"Nothing much?" the Hokage repeated flatly.

"He stays inside," the ANBU informed him. "He doesn't feel safe outside on his birthday."

Minato almost asked why, but answered his own question. _That mess ten years ago must've traumatized him more than I thought. He's too young to remember it, really remember it…but the fear lingers. He wouldn't go out unless he was forced or tricked somehow._

"Oh," he mumbled and paused near the Hokage Tower doors. "Now how to fix that…"

"Good question. I tried to entice him out last year," Yamato admitted, "but…"

The Yondaime frowned in concentration. "Maybe if—"

"Hokage-sama?"

He turned to find Nara Shikamaru and Yamanaka Ino standing in his shadow. Shikamaru was bored and unruffled as usual. Ino looked nervous.

The Hokage was intrigued. "Yes?"

"You wouldn't mind if we kidnapped Naruto for his birthday?" the Nara chuunin drawled.

Minato blinked once, twice, and smiled. _Perfect._ "I wouldn't mind at all. In fact…" He turned to Yamato. "Cat, go fetch Yamato to help them plot, would you?"

The cat-masked ANBU bowed wordlessly and darted away.

"I'd help you myself," Minato apologized, "but I have meetings to get to. Have fun now!"

He waved to his son's friends and disappeared inside the tower, feeling a good deal better than he had…

* * *

"Why did you have to say that we're 'kidnapping' him?!" Ino nearly screeched.

"Hokage-sama understood what I meant," Shikamaru shrugged.

"But what if he didn't?" Ino scowled at him. "And why did we have to talk to him about Naruto's party anyway?"

"At the very least it's polite to let a legal guardian know what we plan to do with his ward, don't you think?"

Ino recalled what Hiashi had said about Naruto being an orphan and having a guardian. "Oh… The _Hokage_ is Naruto's guardian?!"

"Why else would he have showed up that time before we took Naruto clothes shopping if it wasn't his house?" Shikamaru sighed. "Who better to look after him than the Hokage?"

"Oh." Ino brushed her long bangs aside. "So we just wait for this 'Yamato'?"

"Yep." He leaned against a nearby wall.

"…Is it a good thing that he assigned some random shinobi to help us?"

"I doubt his choice of shinobi is random," Shikamaru grunted. "I think it's a sign of approval to give us some help in pulling things off, and a way for him to keep his eye on us."

"Like a babysitter?" Ino wondered, wrinkling her nose.

"No more than your sensei is," a new voice interjected cheerfully.

They both looked up to find a jounin perched on a windowsill above their heads. He had brown spiky hair and dark eyes. Shikamaru hadn't gotten a good look at the shinobi who had subdued the demon cat with chakra infused tree roots, but he was sure that this was the same man.

"You're Yamato?" Shikamaru asked.

"Indeed I am," the man nodded. He dropped down to the ground and eyed them curiously. "So, what do you kids have in mind?"


	23. The Thirteenth Year

**Chapter 22**_  
The Thirteenth Year_

Naruto sluggishly opened an eye and let his gaze drift around his room. The curtains were drawn—something he rarely bothered to do—leaving only a few stray sunbeams to illuminate things. It was hard to judge what time it was without looking at his alarm clock. It didn't matter, though. He had nothing to do today, and was in no hurry.

Today was his thirteenth birthday.

Ideally, he would've been far away from the village on some kind of mission today. He'd begged his dad for a mission—any kind of mission!—that would get him far away on the tenth of October. But his father apologized and said there were no missions that he could join. So he was stuck here…

After a while, he slowly rolled out from under his covers—and almost stepped on a small stack of boxes. They were plainly wrapped and labeled, lacking any sparkly ribbons or puffy bows. He carefully gathered them up and dumped them on his bed to sort through them.

Iruka-sensei had given him his present the day before: a basic scroll on the properties of wind chakra and a few coupons for _Ichiraku_'s. Today's presents were from his ANBU minders, mostly present, some past. They gifted him with high quality kunai and shuriken and even a few small spools of ninja wire. The last time he'd gotten wire, he'd used it to enhance his pranks much to everyone's annoyance. It seemed he was finally forgiven and deemed trustworthy enough to use it properly. And one present even contained a few explosive tags and letter bombs—and a note warning him to be very, very careful with them.

It was all good stuff. Stuff he could use, stuff he needed. But…there was something important missing.

There was no present from his dad.

No matter how busy his dad was, no matter how distant, he had always come up with a present for Naruto on his birthday. Most years, his dad even would stop by for lunch in spite of his hectic Kyuubi Festival schedule. He might be stuff in his house all day, but his birthday was one of the few days in the year where he didn't feel forgotten.

But there wasn't a present this year.

_He…forgot?_ His heart sank like a stone. _Maybe…maybe he's going to give it to me in person!_

That had happened twice that he could remember. When he'd turned five, his dad had given him "Gama-chan" his frog wallet, and talked to him about being old enough to handle more money than the odd coin he stashed in his old piggy bank. And the next year had been the birthday when he'd gotten his Uzumaki clan patch.

_He'll have something for me at lunch,_ he reassured himself. _It'll be something special and important. Yeah!_

Feeling better, he carefully gathered up his gifts and put them away. Then he yawned, stretched, and scampered downstairs. There was a nice breakfast waiting for him.

When he'd been small, if his father wasn't around to feed him one of the ANBU would. As he'd grown older and able to cook for himself, his ANBU minders would cook for him less and less. But so long as he lived in the Hokage Manor, he had a feeling that he'd always get a free breakfast courtesy of ANBU.

Naruto skidded into the kitchen and found Yamato cooking something on the stove. Surprisingly, the ANBU was dressed down, wearing jounin gear instead of his usual uniform and cat mask. Naruto had gotten a look at his face during the fight with Yugito and the Nibi, but he hadn't expected to see it bared again…at least not so soon.

"Good morning, Naruto!" Yamato grinned. "And happy birthday!"

"Thanks!" Naruto hopped into his chair and tilted his head questioningly. "What's for breakfast?"

"Blueberry pancakes," the ANBU replied and handed him a ready-made plate with a stack of three already on it. "Enjoy!"

"Alright!" Naruto cheered and dug in with enthusiasm.

After gobbling down most of his breakfast, he paused to ask a question. "Yamato, how come you're not in uniform?"

"Well you've already seen my face, so there isn't much point in hiding it today," the man shrugged. "And seeing as it's your birthday, I thought you might like seeing my face as opposed to my mask."

"Cool," Naruto grinned. "Do I get to find out your real name, too?"

"No," Yamato laughed. "You won't get that until I retire from active ANBU service, kid."

"Darn," Naruto pouted, though he really wasn't all that disappointed.

"I like my codename better than my real name, anyway," Yamato shrugged. "It sounds so much cooler."

Naruto rolled his eyes and attacked his food with a vengeance.

Once he was thoroughly stuffed, he left the leftovers for Yamato (and anyone else who wanted them) and went upstairs to bathe. A nice soak in the tub killed some time and helped him digest a bit faster. And when he was all prune-y, and the water was cooling off, he climbed out of the water, dried off, and went to get dressed.

Festivals, especially those ones rooted in ancient times, had a sort of unspoken dress code attached to them. Ninjas could get away with wearing their shinobi gear, but civilians and ninjas who chose to would wear traditional clothing. Men would wear yukatas, and women would wear either yukatas or simple kimonos. And even though Naruto never ventured out on his birthday, he'd get a new yukata for his birthday anyway.

As a child, his yukatas had been blue, mainly because that was the color that his father had picked. Later, after discovering the bright, attention-grabbing properties of the color orange, he'd gotten orange yukatas, with the white Uzumaki spiral decorating them. A month or so before his birthday the previous year's yukata would have the white spirals removed and donated to charity to make room for the new one. Naruto thought it was kind of a waste, since he never went out and really used the outfit, but it was a birthday tradition.

This year's yukata was orange, but not the bright shade of previous years. It was a duller, deeper shade, like his new T-shirts. He didn't mind, though; it looked great and still had the white spirals on it—one large one on the back and a smaller one over each side of his chest on the front.

It relieved him to find it waiting for him in its box on the bathroom counter. A new yukata meant that his dad hadn't forgotten his birthday. Everything was fine; he would get his present (the yukata didn't count) at lunch…

* * *

Naruto slumped on the couch and stared at the wall clock. It was almost lunchtime. He couldn't wait. And yet the clock was being cruel to him and moving so slowly…

_Come on,_ he moaned to himself. _Be noon already. I'm bored. And—_

There was a knock on the front door.

He froze, terror almost choking him. Nobody came to see him. And nothing really good ever happened to him on his birthday.

There was more knocking.

"Naruto, you know that if it was anyone dangerous, ANBU wouldn't even let them knock the door," Yamato piped up from the doorway, looking concerned.

_Oh…yeah._ Naruto tried to shake it off and stumbled towards the door. The ANBU wouldn't let anyone dangerous stroll up to the front door. Yamato wouldn't let him go to the door if it was dangerous. _Calm down. Don't be such a baby!_

Gathering his nerve, he wrenched the door open—

"This can't be the right house!" he heard Sakura protest.

"Are you sure we aren't lost?" Chouji asked almost at the same time.

"Nah, this is the place," Shikamaru grunted. He caught sight of Naruto and waved. "Hey, Naruto; happy birthday."

Ino, Sakura, and Chouji echoed Shikamaru's greeting and birthday wishes.

Naruto could only gape at them, stupefied.

"…Aren't you going to invite us in?" Shikamaru asked.

Blinking, he opened the door wider and mutely beckoned them inside.

They were dressed for the festival. Chouji was still very thin, but was healthy enough to be walking around; his dark green yukata had obviously been tailored when he'd been heavier as hung off his reduced frame like a loose sheet. Shikamaru wore deep gray, with the black circle and line of his clan on his clothes. Ino wore deep purple, with lighter colored flower patterns on her sleeves and around the hem of her skirt. And Sakura wore dull red with the white ring pattern that he recognized from her usual dress.

Naruto dazedly led them into the kitchen and fumbled around for snacks to offer them. The problem was, he never really kept snacks in the house. As he did most of the grocery shopping, he avoided getting anything he didn't need—no candy, no chips, no juice, nothing snack-like at all. His dad never noticed as he rarely ate at home and mainly depended on take-out because of his long, odd work hours. So he had nothing to give his friends.

But when he looked in the cabinets, he found plenty of potato chips and trail mix and candy. He hadn't bought any of it. Only his father—or ANBU members at his father's request—could've put snacks in the house.

Doubly dumbfounded, he offered what he found around and just sat nearby, watching them.

"You really live here?" Sakura asked as she munched on trail mix, dazzled.

Naruto scratched at his cheek. "Yeah."

"Why didn't you say anything before?" she frowned, puzzled.

He blinked. "I was supposed to?"

Sakura opened her mouth, then snapped it shut.

There was another knocking at the door, and Naruto flinched at the sound. But he reminded himself of what Yamato had said (and wondered just where that particular ANBU minder had disappeared to) and nervously went to see who it was. To his immense relief, there was no angry villager, vengeance-bent shinobi, or dubious package on the other side of the door; it was Team 8.

Shino wore a pale gray yukata instead of his usual coat, but he still wore his shades. Kiba wore a similar shade of gray trimmed in brown and decorated with the red fang symbol of his clan. Akamaru rode on his head, still wearing a small bandage on one foreleg but otherwise fully healed. Hinata rounded them out, wearing a blue informal kimono decorated with a butterfly pattern and a white obi and under-layers. They greeted him and wished him a happy birthday as Team 10 (plus Sakura) had done earlier, and he let them inside too.

"This is some snazzy house you've got," Kiba remarked as he followed Naruto into the kitchen. "Does it have a big backyard?"

"Yeah," Naruto shrugged.

"Cool," the Inuzuka grinned wolfishly. "Too bad you never invited us over back in the Academy. I bet we could've had a lot of fun…" He tilted his head curiously. "Why didn't you?"

Naruto just shrugged helplessly. "I dunno…" _Maybe I was afraid that your parents wouldn't let you…_

"Oh well," Kiba snorted and tore into some jerky snacks that Naruto had dug out of his mysteriously stocked cabinets. Akamaru had some, too.

"N-Naruto-kun?" Hinata squeaked timidly. "A-aren't you g-going to eat something t-too?"

Naruto floundered for an excuse. It was almost lunch and he didn't want to ruin his appetite. And what would happen if his dad came home and all these people here? Was he allowed to have people over? There were some sensitive things in this house, like the Hokage's Library which was filled with rare and dangerous jutsu.

"Here, have a cookie!" Ino commanded and pressed a chocolate cookie into his hand. She was smiling at him, but it was a predatory sort of smile that seemed to say: _Eat that cookie or else!_

"Okay," he reluctantly agreed and ate the sweet snack.

"Relax, man!" Kiba groaned and gave him a slap on the back. "It's your birthday, live it up!" Akamaru barked enthusiastically in agreement.

"I'm relaxed," Naruto muttered peevishly.

"Then why did you flinch when they knocked on the door?" Sakura asked with a frown.

"I…I was surprised!" Naruto protested, mentally scrambling. "Nobody ever comes here! I'm not used to people knocking on my door…"

"Nobody?" Chouji mumbled around a mouthful of chips.

There was a new knocking at the door and Naruto was actually glad for the startling distraction. He darted for the door and swung it open with no hesitation. On his doorstep stood Team Gai.

Tenten had her hair up in its signature twin bun style and wore a pale blue yukata with a few Chinese dragons embroidered on it. Neji wore a plain beige yukata decorated only with the Hyuuga clan symbol—a yellow circle with a red flame. And Rock Lee…Rock Lee didn't appear to be wearing his green spandex! Instead, he wore a green yukata of the same shade trimmed with orange.

_Maybe he's got the spandex on underneath…?_ Naruto wondered as he let them in.

"What a Youthful gathering of friends!" Lee declared as he bounded into the kitchen.

"There isn't any sake in here, is there?" Tenten whispered to him.

"No!" Naruto sputtered. His father didn't keep much sake around, and what bottles he did have were stashed in a locked cabinet in his study.

"Good," Tenten sighed. "If Lee got a hold of any of that on accident…" she shuddered "it would be bad."

"Indeed," Neji quietly agreed.

The kitchen now felt rather crowded with his entire graduating class (minus Sasuke) and Team Gai stuffed inside. It was like some bizarre dream to have pretty much everyone inside his house on his birthday. He dimly wondered when he was going to wake up.

"Troublesome," Shikamaru grunted as Kiba bumped into him while reaching for some chocolate. He slipped away from the haphazard snack table, drew up to Naruto's side, and pulled a small package out of his sleeve. "Since everyone seems to be here, might as well give you this now."

Naruto stared at the present, speechless. First everyone had come over and wished him a happy birthday, and now he was getting a present from one of them? He really had to be dreaming. He'd never been invited to any of their birthday parties and never given any of them gifts, so why would they do this for him?

"Are you going to take this or what?"

Shikamaru's irritated tone at least partly snapped Naruto out of his shocked stupor, and he took the package. Underneath the concealing paper, he found a small book that outlined several basic shogi strategies. It wasn't a terribly exciting gift, but…

Ino pounced on him next and pressed an envelope into his hands that contained a hand-written coupon promising him one free bouquet of flowers. Chouji paused in his snacking long enough to hand over a couple coupons for _Ichiraku's_ and his favorite barbeque restaurant. Lee eagerly presented him with some moderately heavy training weights, and gave him a brief but stirring speech on their Youthful properties. Tenten and Neji gave him a joint gift of a new weapon pouch; it was larger than his current one with extra loops for small storage scrolls, and it was of obvious high quality. Shino gave him a pair of shades similar to the ones that the Aburame wore all the time. Kiba gave him a small vial of his clan's highest quality soldier pills and offered him a rematch of the Chuunin Exam bout. Hinata shyly gave him a very nice soup bowl and matching chopsticks that was themed in orange and black. And Sakura gave him a small kit of medicines that she'd made under Tsunade's supervision.

Naruto could barely choke out a "thank you" to them. Really, he _had_ to be dreaming. Nothing so very wonderful as all of this could ever happen on his birthday. It was a dream, and he didn't want to wake up.

"It's too crowded in here!" Ino declared. "Let's hit the festival!"

"Alright!" Kiba cheered and Akamaru yapped excitedly.

There was more agreement from all sides and all the visiting genin (and the chuunin) made to leave. Naruto felt a sliver of disappointment that they were leaving, but he'd never deny his friends time at one of the biggest village festivals of the year. Their unexpected visit and gifts were great and he would content himself with that. Besides, his dad was still due to come by soon, so he'd still get a bit more company for the day…

"Come on, Naruto!" Sakura called, startling him. "Don't just stand there, we're heading out!"

"Yeah, hurry up!" Ino grinned. "The game booths should be open by now!"

_They…want me to come…with them?_ They all were looking at him—some curious, some worried—but it was clear that they expected him to go with them outside. Still reeling internally from all the shocking but wonderful surprises the past hour or so had brought him, he found himself caving in to their wishes. _Maybe…it'll be okay—_

"What are you stalling for?" Kiba grumbled and got around behind him and started to push. "Let's get a move on!"

"Hey s-stop that!" Naruto fumed, breaking free from the Inuzuka's grip. "I-I'm going, I'm going!"

It was broad daylight, and he was going in a group. The villagers wouldn't bother him…much. And so long as he got home before dark, everything should be okay…

At least he hoped so.

* * *

Yamato cheerfully tidied up the kitchen and ferried Naruto's presents up to his room. He was thoroughly impressed with Naruto's friends. Through a combination of "shock and awe" and a positive application of peer pressure, they'd managed to coax the Hokage's son outdoors and to the Kyuubi Festival.

_I hope everything goes alright…_

He hadn't been ANBU back when Naruto had inadvertently triggered a riot when he'd first tried to attend the festival, but he'd heard about it. Kakashi-sempai had told him all about the nightmares the boy had suffered afterwards and how it took months for the boy to go outside and not behave like a scared rabbit. His sempai had also shuddered when mentioning the string of horrid missions he'd been assigned as a sort of reprimand for failing to spot the beginnings of the riot and defuse them before things got out of hand. The Hokage's displeasure had been terrible indeed.

Reaching up to fiddle with his ANBU ear-bug, he activated the radio transmitter. "Attention: Fish Cake and his Entourage have left the building; I repeat, Fish Cake and his Entourage have left the building. Keep your eyes sharp for any unrest; we don't want a repeat riot."

A string of acknowledgements crackled in his ear. Satisfied, he cut his connection and closed up the house. With his Naruto supervision duties passed along to the ANBU monitoring the festival, he was free to do as he pleased for the rest of the day.

_I hope Naruto has a good time…_


	24. The Fox and the Festival

**Chapter 23**_  
The Fox and the Festival_

Minato chewed on a piece of fruit and watched the crowd below mill about and celebrate. Red streamers and paper lanterns hung from every building and temporary food stalls and game booths were set up in the village square in front of the Hokage Tower and along the wider streets. He heard the low rumble of the village chatter, and even some bursts of laughter rising up to him near the top of the tower. It was a much lighter atmosphere than the earlier festivals in the first few years after the Kyuubi's defeat—those had held about as much cheer as a funeral.

He'd almost gone home for lunch, but then the message had come that Naruto was on his way to the festival. With his son out the door, there was no need to head home so he ate in his office. Naruto was going to come to him…eventually.

_I hope he has fun this year._ Minato briefly dropped his hand to his pocket to double-check that he had the scroll with him that he needed. _And I hope he likes what I'm going to give him…_

* * *

Naruto kept his hands tucked into his sleeves to hide their nervous tremors and flinches as he navigated the festival crowds, insulated by his sloppy circle of friends. For once he wished his dad had ordered a dark blue yukata instead of an orange one. He didn't want to stand out today, he wanted to be a hole in the crowd and wholly unnoticeable. The last thing he wanted was to ruin today for his friends who seemed so hell-bent on going out of their way for him.

The festival was very much like any other festival he'd attended—Konoha's spring, summer, and new year's festivals, and that one local festival he'd come across while traveling with Ero-Sennin in search of Tsunade-baa-chan. The only thing that really set it apart was the fact that it occurred on his birthday and—because of the demon and the horrible events of that fateful day—he was therefore most unwelcome at the festivities. Well, that and the color scheme of the festival decorations: red for fire, blood, and struggle; black for mourning; and white for hope and new beginnings—just as he'd learned about in class but had never witnessed in person.

They meandered their way through the crowd until they reached the center of the festivities, and then all eyes turned to him.

"So Naruto," Ino grinned widely, "what do you want to do first?"

"Uh…" Naruto nervously rubbed at the back of his head, his mind thoroughly blank of ideas. "Um…whatever you guys wanna do." He shrugged.

Ino frowned. "Naruto…"

"Let's get food!" Chouji cheerfully suggested.

"Yeah!" Naruto nodded enthusiastically, latching onto the idea with a death-grip. "Let's go get some squid or something!"

Everyone agreed—although Ino didn't look particularly pleased—and they drifted through the crowd in search of a food vendor. It wasn't hard to find one; just about every restaurant in the village had set up a small booth to feed the throngs of festival-goers. The tricky part was finding a vendor that had food that everyone wanted and didn't have a very long line attached to it.

But they did eventually find one. One that offered grilled squid, which Ino had stubbornly insisted upon. Naruto gave up on the idea of eating lunch with his father and tore into the slightly crispy invertebrate with gusto.

"Naruto?"

The blonde birthday boy flinched and turned to find Iruka-sensei dressed for the festival and blinking at him in surprise.

"Iruka-sensei?" Naruto squeaked, a crispy squid tentacle poking out of the corner of his mouth.

"Don't talk with your mouth full, Naruto!" the Academy teacher scolded. He tilted his head curiously. "You've come to the festival?"

"Of course he has!" Kiba laughed and bit into a spicy meatball. "There's a festival on his birthday! Why wouldn't he come out and enjoy it?"

The older chuunin rubbed at the scar over the bridge of his nose. "It's just that I've never run into him during this festival, that's all."

Naruto just shoved more squid into his mouth and chewed. _Why wouldn't I go out on my birthday? Gee, I dunno, it might be because the demon that threatened the village, killed a bunch of ninja, and took out the Sandaime Hokage, is sealed inside of me and everyone hates me for it… But none of you know that, of course._

"Weird," Kiba sniffed and held up his wooden skewer so that Akamaru (sitting upon his head, like always) could bite off the next meatball. "I can't remember ever seeing him at the Kyuubi Festival before either. With all the orange that he wears, he should glow in the dark…"

"I do not glow in the dark, Dog Breath!" Naruto huffed indignantly.

"What did you call me?" Kiba growled.

"Now, now boys; no fighting!" Iruka frowned.

"Sorry, Iruka-sensei," they muttered.

"Are you two getting into trouble?" Sakura demanded, as she noticed Kiba and Naruto standing apologetically in front of their former teacher.

"No, not yet," Iruka chuckled. "You boys stay out of mischief now. I have to meet up with some of the other instructors." He waved and walked off. "Have fun, kids! And happy birthday, Naruto!"

Naruto waved back, and glanced furtively out of the corners of his eyes as he jammed the last of his snack into his mouth. A few people in the crowd caught Iruka's farewell and locked their eyes onto him. They were surprised, they glared…and then they pointedly looked away from him, denying his existence.

For once, Naruto was glad of that.

_I don't need their acknowledgement today. I just need it from the people who matter._ Naruto struggled to swallow his mouthful of chewed squid, and then grinned. _And I have it…_

* * *

Shikamaru nibbled on a stick of Pocky and allowed himself to marvel at how well things were going. They had wrangled their whole class (minus Sasuke) and Team Gai to Naruto's house, pried him out of his house, and led him into the festival with minimum difficulty. Things were going very well; Naruto had loosened up enough to really be enjoying himself.

Their large group, however, had not lasted. Team Gai had broken off first, with Lee somehow drawing Neji into a series of carnival games a few streets back with Tenten alternately cheering and joining in. Akamaru had run off after a cat and Kiba chased him with Shino trailing after them both. Ino and Sakura had spotted a row of booths selling jewelry and other trinkets and were probably still there, agonizing over what to buy, if anything.

Shikamaru stuck with Naruto, mainly because it was far too troublesome to do much else. Chouji stayed too, loyally following them both with a giant bag of popcorn in his arms. And Hinata was ever Naruto's faithful shadow, although she was so quiet Shikamaru wondered if Naruto realized that she was still there and not off with her cousin, or her teammates, or the other girls.

Thankfully, Naruto seemed relaxed and confident enough not to be bothered by the fact that most of his protection had scattered to the four winds, leaving him with only two capable protectors (Chouji was still too thin and weak to manage much more than a glare in defense).

"Hey Naruto," Chouji called out around a mouthful of popcorn. "Have you tried any of the games yet?"

Naruto paused mid-step. "Uh…"

He hadn't, Shikamaru knew. Naruto hadn't made a move to attempt a single game. He hadn't even ordered his own food; he'd just given some money to one of his friends and had them order for him. He was being very cautious, which was unusual for him.

"Do you want to try one?" Shikamaru asked lazily.

"Uh…um…"

Naruto didn't have to. Today was already a success to Shikamaru. All Naruto had to do to keep it that way was to enjoy himself the rest of the day and not suffer any trouble. If he wasn't comfortable trying a game, that was fine—he was still out of his house and having a blast.

"Eh, why not!" the blonde decided abruptly, and marched off closer to some game booths.

_Being bold, hm?_ Shikamaru yawned and rolled his shoulders, loosening up for anything. _Hopefully this won't turn out to be too troublesome._

Naruto settled on a ring-toss game. It was a simple game with the usual cheap prizes. Even with being forbidden to use chakra, it shouldn't be too hard for him to win; he was a ninja, not some civilian kid.

The man who ran the game recognized Naruto right away, and didn't look particularly pleased to see him. But he took Naruto's money and gave him the rings to toss over the wooden pole targets. Naruto looked a little relieved at getting the rings, stuck his mostly empty Pocky box into his yukata belt, and lined up for his throws. Sticking his tongue out a bit in concentration, Naruto carefully made his tosses.

The first was a miss. The second bounced off the tip of the pole. But the third, fourth, and fifth rings landed home—one more ring than was necessary to win.

"You cheated," was the immediate reaction of the game operator.

"What?" Naruto sputtered. "I didn't cheat!"

"You cheated," the man scowled, unperturbed by Naruto's protestation of innocence.

"No hand seals, no chakra, no cheating," Shikamaru drawled as he leaned against the counter to Naruto's right.

"Yeah!" Chouji agreed loudly through his popcorn.

The game man frowned darkly. "But—"

"N-Naruto-kun did not cheat," Hinata interrupted, doing her best to sound firm and imposing.

The man hesitated for a moment longer, then gave in. "Fine, you won…congratulations."

Naruto blinked, then surveyed the prizes that decked the walls of the booth. "I…want that one!" he decided, pointing at a cardboard and plastic _uchiwa_ fan.

His request was ignored. Instead, the game operator was digging around in the back for something. Before Naruto could repeat his request, the man returned to the front with a plush fox in his hands.

"Here you go," the man smirked, shoving it into Naruto's hands before he could refuse it. "A special prize, just for you."

"But…Naruto wanted the fan," Chouji blinked, utterly baffled.

"He landed three rings in a row; he gets a special prize," the game man answered. "Now scram, so other kids can play."

_A subtle jab, but a nasty one,_ Shikamaru sighed as they moved away from the ring-toss booth. _Giving him a stuffed fox to remind him, and everyone around who knows, about the demon…_ Naruto had clearly gotten the message; he held the cute thing by one ear and kept it as far away from himself as possible, looking at it like it was going to come alive and rip his face off.

_…Troublesome._

"Hey, Naruto," Shikamaru muttered, leaning in so he could be heard over the din of the crowd without raising his voice. "If you don't want that, you could give it to Hinata."

"Eh?" Naruto started. "Why would she want it?"

"Girls like cute, furry animals," Shikamaru replied.

Naruto frowned, but turned to the Hyuuga girl and offered up the plush animal like it was diseased. "You want it, Hinata?"

She stared at the toy fox in open-mouthed awe, and snatched it out of his loose grip before he could retract his offer.

"Whoa…" Naruto looked away from Hinata, who was cuddling her new toy, to Shikamaru with wide eyes. "Girls _really_ like furry animals."

Shikamaru only snorted. _Her reaction might have something to do with the fact that you gave her something you won—something a boy does for his girlfriend…_ But of course Naruto was wholly oblivious to the girl's affection for him, and Shikamaru wasn't about to enlighten him about it. It wasn't any of his business and he had no desire to get swept up in that sort of drama.

Naruto shrugged and pulled his Pocky box out of his belt and was about to pull out another chocolate-covered stick…when he froze, turned around, and glared at something on the ground.

Behind them was a long cardboard box with eye-holes cut in the front of it. Shikamaru frowned, Chouji's chewing slowed down and he blinked, and Hinata just held the plush fox tighter. Naruto kept glaring at the box.

"Konohamaru!" he yelled, suddenly. "You're not fooling anyone! Rocks aren't square and they don't have eye-holes!"

"Darn!" a young, muffled voice cursed from the box. "I thought we had you this time!"

And then the box exploded with firecrackers. The surrounding crowd immediately flowed away from the small explosions with angry shouts and the odd curse. Shikamaru groaned in annoyance as he ducked out of the way of a few tiny bottle-rockets and tried not to trip over Chouji.

When the smoke cleared and the bangs ceased, the box was demolished and whoever had been inside was long gone. Chouji had dropped his bag of popcorn in the chaos and spilled about half of what was left. Shikamaru tried to help him salvage what he could, and Hinata joined in a moment later.

As things settled down and Chouji got back to munching on his much diminished snack, Shikamaru sighed and looked around…and frowned.

"Where's Naruto?"

* * *

"Konohamaru!" Naruto shouted as he chased the end of a long green scarf through the crowd. "Give me back my Pocky!"

Konohamaru and his two cronies of course didn't stop. They just tried to run faster, weaving their way through the festival-goers and doing their best to shake Naruto's pursuit. Their efforts were in vain, though, as they were only Academy students and Naruto was a real ninja.

"Gotcha!" Naruto howled in triumph and snagged Konohamaru's scarf, stopping the younger boy short.

"Drat!" Konohamaru cursed from the ground where he'd toppled. "I almost beat you, Naruto-nii-san!"

"No you didn't," Naruto snorted and held out his hand. "Now hand over the Pocky."

The brown-haired boy pouted, but handed over the almost empty candy box.

"Why'd you even steal it?" the blonde frowned as he silently counted the cookie sticks. "If you wanted some you could've just asked me."

"Sorry," the three younger children muttered, heads bent in apology.

There were only four sticks left, so Naruto gave them each one and stuffed the fourth into his own mouth. "And what was with the firecrackers?"

"Udon set them off on accident," Konohamaru shrugged.

"My bad," the droopy, glassing-wearing boy apologized, his nose as stuffy as ever.

"Well you're not supposed to do stuff like that at a festival anyway," Naruto frowned. "You could get into trouble. What if one of your bottle-rockets hit somebody?"

"We're sorry," the kids apologized again.

"We won't use anymore firecrackers at festivals," the red-haired girl added. "Right, Konohamaru-kun?"

"Except sparklers!" Konohamaru grinned. "We can still use those when it gets dark. Those don't hurt anybody!"

"Yeah, as long as you don't poke anybody with a lit one," Naruto snorted. "Now off with you, you Pocky thieves! Go conquer all the festival games and don't blow anything up!"

"_Ossu_!" Konohamaru saluted and the trio of ten-year-olds melted into the crowd to do as he commanded.

_Man, was I as dorky as them when I was ten?_ Naruto idly wondered.

He turned to make a comment to Shikamaru and Chouji—and found himself alone.

He hadn't cared when Neji and his team had peeled off to do their own thing. He didn't mind when Kiba and Shino left to chase Akamaru. He wasn't bothered when Ino and Sakura wandered off to shop. But with the last of his friends gone he suddenly felt naked and small and lost in the looming crowd.

Crowds normally didn't bother him. Festivals were not events that caused him any anxiety. But being lost in a teeming crowd at this particular festival…

The old nightmares loomed large in the back of his mind and a cold lump formed in his stomach. He hated being the shortest kid in his class; it meant that the adults were all that much taller than him. Most of the villagers either hadn't noticed him or were purposely ignoring him as they walked around him, but he saw a few here and there that were staring at him. Just standing off to the side or in the shadows on the street, and staring right at him.

His chest felt a bit tight. The empty Pocky box was crushed in his left hand, forgotten. His right hand clutched at the Shodai's necklace hidden under the cloth of his orange yukata like it was some kind of magical charm against trouble.

He needed to get away. But there was nowhere to run to. He was in the middle of the crowd in the middle of the village and nothing friendly in sight.

**Kill the fools first before they can strike,** the demon suggested. **Remind them of who you are and whose power you can wield! They would never dare harm you again…**

"Naruto?"

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto squeaked, spinning around to find his jounin-sensei standing behind him.

He was so relieved, he almost hugged his teacher. Now that Kakashi-sensei was with him, he was safe. No villager was stupid enough to go through Sharingan Kakashi, the Copy-nin.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah," Naruto nodded, starting to feel a bit silly. _I was panicking for nothing. I'm such a baby…_

"Good," Kakashi nodded, his visible eye crinkled with a smile. "I'd hate for anything bad to happen to you on my watch. The last time that happened, I spent most of the winter running missions in the Land of Snow." The jounin's expression turned very grave. "Hokage-sama also burned my book. It was a first edition of _Icha Icha Paradisu_—Jiraiya-sama even signed it. It was awful."

Naruto rolled his eyes at that. _Only Kakashi-sensei would think burning a book is worse than doing missions in Snow Country in the winter…_ "Sorry for getting you into trouble, Kakashi-sensei."

"It wasn't your fault," Kakashi sighed. "You were barely more than a baby, and I was not as attentive as I should have been. Anyways, have you been having fun?"

"Yep," Naruto nodded. "It's crazy, everybody's come to see me today!"

"Good, good," the jounin chuckled. "It's nice to see you outside. I suppose I ought to give you something as a reward for facing your fears…"

"A reward?" Naruto repeated blankly.

"How about a birthday present?" Kakashi grinned and handed Naruto a small box.

It was unwrapped, which made Naruto think that his sensei had only bought it minutes before. It was also very small, barely larger than a jewelry box. When he shook it something inside made a metallic tinkling sound.

_I hope it isn't jewelry; the Shodai's necklace is all that I need._

Opening the plain brown box, he shook a pair of silvery bells mounted on small leather strings into the palm of his hand. They were very shiny and very familiar. Naruto scowled at them.

"Aren't these the bells from the bell test?"

"They're the same kind of bells," Kakashi answered cheerfully.

Naruto squinted at his teacher. "What are they for?"

"They are for the day when you need to evaluate potential students, of course!"

"But that's years away!" Naruto protested, flailing his arms a little.

"So? It can't hurt to do a little preparing now, can it?"

Naruto huffed and tied the bells to his belt as his yukata really didn't have pockets. When he shifted, the bells tinkled. _I feel like a pet with a bell collar…_

"Very nice," Kakashi praised.

"Yeah, yeah, sure," Naruto pouted. "Can we go find my friends now?"

"Of course," the silver-haired jounin nodded agreeably. "This way."

"Hey, Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked, trying to ignore the jingle of the bells every time he took a step. "Do you know what my—what Hokage-jiji got me for my birthday?"

"Not sure, but I'm certain it's something important. He hangs around the tower for most of the festival, so he shouldn't be too hard to find."

"Okay." _So, after I see what happened to Shikamaru and Chouji and Hinata, I'll go to the Hokage Tower._ He scowled and his sensei's lack of helpfulness about his last birthday present. _What the heck did dad get me?!_


	25. Whirlpool Blade

**Chapter 24**_  
Whirlpool Blade_

Shikamaru was rather relieved to find that losing Naruto hadn't been as troublesome as he'd feared it had been. The spiky-haired blonde had turned up a few streets over, safe and sound, and in the company of his sensei, Hatake Kakashi. The guy had even picked up a birthday present from his teacher.

Now it seemed that Naruto had a solid game plan for what he wanted to do. He wanted to find out what everyone was doing, and then go to the Tower. Shikamaru couldn't argue with that (especially since arguing with Naruto was always so troublesome); his parents were probably over at the Tower, too. Or at least nearby the Tower. He was supposed to check in with them before dark, and this way he could kill two birds with one stone.

Hinata was using her Byakugan to help locate their scattered group. But even with that help, it was slow going. She could see in all directions and through buildings to nearby streets, but there were so many people moving about that it took a while for her to sort through all of what she was seeing. It looked like the poor girl was getting a headache from the strain but she stubbornly continued seeking their classmates.

_All for a boy who barely notices her and just as blindly chases someone else._ Shikamaru shook his head. _Troublesome…_

The Hyuuga girl had located Ino and Sakura first. The two girls had left the row of merchant booths and were now in a section where a lot of food stalls had been set up. Shikamaru found it to be something of a surprising move; Ino was always going on about diets and calories (which was stupid, she was a kunoichi and all her training should be more than enough to keep her thin regardless of what she ate) and Sakura would follow her lead.

They followed Hinata as she carefully navigated the festival crowd towards their intended targets. Rounding a bend, they spotted the two girls standing near booth that—judging by its sign and clientele—had been set up by a local bar. When they reached the pair, they found out why.

Two of the _Densetsu no Sannin_—Tsunade and Jiraiya—were seated at the counter, drinking. Sakura was pleading with her well-endowed teacher to ease off the sake as it wasn't quite dinner time and far too early to be getting drunk. Shizune, the senior apprentice, was also there and also pleading with Tsunade. And Ino, ironically enough, was holding Tonton the pink pig in her arms, watching the scene.

"Hey, Tsunade-baa-chan, Ero-Sennin!" Naruto yelled. "What's with all the booze?"

"Hey, it's the birthday boy!" Jiraiya laughed and tossed back another drink. "C'mere!"

Naruto squinted suspiciously at the tall, white-haired man, but edged in closer. "What?"

"Closer, closer," the man grinned, beckoning.

The blonde walked right up to the legendary ninja and folded his arms over his chest. "What is it?"

"Ha ha!" Jiraiya laughed and swept him up in a hug. "Gotcha!"

"Wah! Put me down!" Naruto howled and started to flail.

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow and said to Chouji and Ino: "Man, and I thought our dads got weird when they got smashed."

"Happy birthday, brat," Tsunade snorted and held out her glass to him. "You want some?"

"Baa-chan, I'm not old enough to drink!" Naruto wailed and tried to squirm away from the offending liquid and get free of Jiraiya's hug at the same time.

"One sip won't kill you," Tsunade laughed and moved the cup closer.

"Tsunade-sama!" Shizune sputtered. "You can't give him that! Hokage-sama will be furious!"

"Nah, he'd just be annoyed," Jiraiya laughed. "Now if Tsunade-hime got the brat drunk—_then_ he'd be furious!"

"Ero-Sennin let me go!" Naruto shouted and struggled harder. "I don't want any sake!"

"Fine, fine." The large man let out a gusty sigh and unceremoniously dumped Naruto onto the ground. "Maybe next year…"

"No way!" Naruto huffed and dusted himself off.

"Maybe next year," Tsunade agreed and drained her glass.

"I'm not gonna drink any of that!" Naruto scowled, punctuating his declaration with a stomp of the foot.

The two Sannin just laughed at him as if he'd told a great joke.

"Hey, another bottle!" Jiraiya called, waving his empty cup at the bartender. "Now, kid…" Jiraiya turned back to Naruto and pulled an orange book out of his pack and a pen. "Anything special you want me to write in it?"

"No!" Naruto yelped and hopped away from the book like it was on fire. "Keep your porn to yourself! I'm too young to read that anyway!"

Shikamaru blinked. "Porn?"

"That's that same dirty book that Kakashi-sensei reads all the time!" Sakura frowned.

"Ah, Kakashi…my favorite fan!" Jiraiya laughed.

Ino cocked her head. "Your fan?"

"Yeah, Ero-Sennin _wrote_ that book!" Naruto spat, disgusted.

"I-is it r-really that bad?" Hinata squeaked.

"It's got a label on it that forbids people under eighteen from reading it," Naruto scowled.

"Here you go, Jiraiya-sama," the bartender smiled and produced a fresh bottle of booze for the white-haired man. "Some of our best…" The man's expression darkened as he caught sight of Naruto standing nearby. "Scram, brat! No minors allowed!"

"Now, now, don't you be tellin' him to scram," Jiraiya chided. "He's not a minor; he's a ninja of Konoha and my apprentice…and besides, today's his birthday! Be nice now."

Both of Shikamaru's eyebrows went up. _I know that Sakura managed to get apprenticed to a Sannin…but Naruto, too? When did that happen?_

"Some bars will serve anyone with a Leaf, but not this one," the bartender replied icily. "A minor is a minor, so beat it."

"Calm down," Tsunade groaned. "He's not drinking. He doesn't want any."

"All the more reason for him to go," the bartender shrugged. "Makes room for some paying customers."

Shikamaru sighed and moved to tow Naruto away. They'd found Sakura and Ino, and had no reason to stick around a bar; they had others to find. But he was interrupted.

"Let the kid stay!" someone—an adult ninja he'd never met before—from the other end of the bar counter called. "He's not totally worthless, or so I've heard. Keeps other demons away, that one!"

Naruto looked distinctly uncomfortable, and Shikamaru couldn't really blame him.

"You've been drinking too much!" Tsunade warned. "Your tongue's too loose."

"Don't you be callin' my apprentice worthless!" Jiraiya grunted. "When I'm done with him, he'll be able to trounce just about anyone!"

"Of course he will," Tsunade smirked and cracked open the fresh bottle of sake.

"I'm serious," Jiraiya pouted as his former teammate refilled his glass. "Got it all planned out. I take him on this long training trip, show him everything, and in a couple years—"

"Years?" Tsunade frowned as she poured herself more sake. "Minato's gonna let you steal the boy away for _years_?"

Shikamaru scowled. _Years?_

"Yeah, I got his permission." Jiraiya tossed back his drink. "He agreed; he knows it's for the best."

"One long training trip?" Shizune piped up hesitantly. "Couldn't you break it up into a few smaller ones, Jiraiya-sama?"

"I would if I could," Jiraiya sighed, suddenly seeming very sober and downright grim. "There's just no time… But hey!" he smiled, again the cheery half-drunk. "We'll have a lot of fun! He'll get to learn all the ninja moves he wants, and I get to work on a sequel to my book!" The man laughed and slapped his knee. "It'll be great! Won't it…kid?"

Naruto never seemed to be a very stealthy ninja—especially not with his old choice of wardrobe. And yet no one had noticed him leave. Not even Shikamaru, who had been standing near Naruto's shoulder, had noticed his comrade vanish.

"Troublesome…"

* * *

The Hokage stood outside the Tower, waiting. It was taxing to smile at everyone and be friendly, especially to people he didn't particularly like, and especially since he would prefer being with his son, celebrating his birthday. But if everything went well, Naruto would come to him this year, and he would get a short reprieve from the socializing and politicking he was obligated to do on this day.

The Hokage Tower was the exclusive heart of the festival. Representatives of all the ninja clans tended to congregate there. A little further out, on the neighboring streets, the wealthy and important civilians gathered, occasionally braving the intimidating ninjas to go speak with the Hokage for a while before retreating again. And all the best businesses set up their booths in the area, trying to attract the influential clientele.

Minato sighed and sipped at his water, wishing that his sensei hadn't ditched him, and that Kakashi wasn't out observing the festival in case of trouble. He would've loved their company, and the fact that they would have to suffer through endless polite conversations with him. He wished that _she_ was still with him…

"Hokage-sama," Hyuuga Hiashi bowed, coming to stand beside him. "I was hoping to discuss the recent troubles with Kumogakure with you."

Swallowing a groan, Minato nodded and they withdrew close to the wall of the Tower where they could have some privacy from the crowd should their conversation slide into…sensitive territory.

"Don't you think that your personal intercession in the battle with the Nibi was a bit risky?" Hiashi asked, being surprisingly blunt.

Minato raised a questioning eyebrow. "Oh?"

"Not that I'm not grateful that you diffused the situation, but you came with only two ninja and no ANBU escort. Anything could've happened to you between the battle site and the village walls. Where would the village be without the Hokage?"

"Even though I spend my days behind a desk, I am still a powerful and experienced ninja, Hiashi; I am fully capable of protecting myself." Minato smiled to himself. "Besides, I didn't travel the long way there—I took a short-cut straight from my office."

Hiashi scowled. "Please explain."

"I sent Kakashi and Yamato on ahead with one of my specialized kunai. If they arrived on the scene and determined my presence necessary, they would summon me—and they did." The Hokage sipped at his water. "I thought about using one of the fixed seals put in place by the ANBU, but it's impossible to have predicted where between the village and the border with the Land of Lightning that the battle was taking place. So I set up something more precise…and more secure."

The Hyuuga leader grunted and took a sip of his own glass—probably some fine sake. He was silent for several long minutes before speaking again. "I did not mean to question your strength or your skill, Hokage-sama, but we both know that even the greatest of ninja are still mortal and can be killed."

Beneath his cold, stoic façade, Hyuuga Hiashi wasn't really all that bad. When they had been much younger, Minato could remember the Hyuuga cracking a smile every now and then, and tossing around a few dirty jokes. But life in the Hyuuga clan was hard, especially for one groomed to be the next clan head.

Hiashi's father was stern, humorless, and strict. He'd sealed his second son—Hiashi's identical twin—for no other reason than his birth order, and he held Hiashi to very high standards. An early rise to clan leadership, years of competition with the proud Uchiha clan, the sacrifice of his brother, and the death of his wife shortly after the birth of their second daughter—all had hardened and honed him, and made Hiashi very much like the father he had resented as a child.

Minato wondered if Hiashi even remembered how to relax and let out a smile or a laugh anymore.

"I know," the blonde nodded. "Simple bad luck can slay even the greatest of warriors. But not this time."

"Thankfully," Hiashi agreed with a grave nod.

"Was there anything else you wanted?" Minato asked. "I'm sure you didn't just want to scold me for being a naughty boy."

Hiashi paused before answering. "How are the negotiations with Kumo?"

"The Raikage swears innocence; he claims that this attempt on Hinata was not a mission he sanctioned. He pins the blame for it on a conspiracy of some his ninja clans that still hunger for the power of the Byakugan and saw an opportunity." Minato sighed and leaned against the outer wall of the Tower.

"Three of the shinobi involved in the abduction are believed to be part of this conspiracy, and the Raikage would not be offended if we decided to execute them instead of returning them; if we return them anyway, the Raikage promises they will lose their heads for their shameful actions."

"And what of the Nibi?" the Hyuuga frowned.

"She will be returned to Kumo and punished, but she's too valuable to simply kill—especially since the Raikage believes she was tricked into participating, possibly with forged documents that led her to believe that it was a legitimate mission." Minato shook his head. "I'm very tempted to believe him. No 'Kage in his right mind would send a Jinchuuriki on this kind of mission; not unless he was begging for war. And with Kumo having the honor of hosting the next Chuunin Exams, I seriously doubt they want to run off and start a war with us."

"True," Hiashi reluctantly agreed. "If he truly wished to steal the Byakugan, it would be far simpler to try something during the exams should any Hyuuga participate. It's not unusual for genin to die during the exams after all, especially during the survival test."

Minato stared into his nearly empty paper cup. "Are you going to allow Neji and Hinata to participate in the next exams?"

"Neji will do the clan proud, and he has the seal to protect him. Hinata, however, lacks such protection, and Kumo must not see any weakness in the Hyuuga."

"So you would hold her, and her teammates, back from advancement a full half year?" Minato frowned. "I don't think the Inuzuka and the Aburame will appreciate that."

"Hinata's spot can be filled by another; her team can proceed without her," Hiashi replied.

"True enough, but that leaves me with another hole to fill. I intend to invite all the genin teams that made it to the preliminaries of the last exam—excluding Yakushi Kabuto's team, of course—to participate in Kumo's exam, but with Shikamaru promoted and Sasuke suspended until further notice, two teams are incomplete. If Hinata is prohibited, that leaves _three_ teams one man down." Minato swallowed the last of his water and sighed. "I suppose I could break one of the teams down to plug the other two holes, but I would much rather send four full teams to Kumo instead of just three."

He eyed Hiashi for a moment. "Why not send Hinata? I think she has some real potential, and she'll be better prepared now that she's experienced Konoha's exam."

"Of course she has potential," Hiashi huffed. "She simply isn't tapping into it."

"Perhaps if she wasn't crippled by self-doubt it would be more obvious of what she's truly capable of," Minato suggested. "A kind word of praise every now and then might help with that."

"I can't afford to coddle her," Hiashi scowled. "That would only make her look weaker in the eyes of the clan, and the calls to simply seal her and declare Hanabi to be my heir would be even stronger. As it is, the only way to keep both girls free of the seal is to 'keep my options open' and not declare my official heir.

"Hanabi is skilled and driven, but she is still young and I'm not entirely certain that she would be the better leader. Hinata must prove her strength on her own in order to gain the full and true respect of the clan. Keeping the position open creates competition, and the better of the two will be revealed…eventually."

Hiashi polished off the last of the cup of sake he'd been nursing. "I don't want to place the seal on either of them, but if I must I will not do so arbitrarily, as my father did with Hizashi and myself."

"If you don't want to put the Caged Bird Seal on either of them…don't do it," Minato shrugged. "You are the head of your clan, and your decisions are binding."

The Hyuuga scowled at him bitterly. "It's not that simple."

"Well what's so complicated about—"

When he first heard the jingling of little bells, he thought someone's house cat had slipped outside and gotten lost in the chaos of the festivities. He dearly hoped that it wasn't the infamous "Tora-chan" who made it a habit of escaping at least once a week without fail. But it proved not to be a cat as it got closer and then hit him from the side—proving to be much larger and heavier than any cat. Minato lurched sideways and almost bumped into Hiashi before he recovered and glanced down to see the top of a spiky yellow mop of hair.

"Naruto?" _Somebody put a __**bell**__ on him?!_

At first, it seemed like the surprise tackle-hug was one of excitement. But when no wide grins, laughs, or excited chattering occurred, Minato grew worried. Naruto kept his face buried in Minato's coat and he was…trembling?

"Excuse me," he muttered to Hiashi and brushed past the man, not caring if it was rather rude.

He slipped into the Hokage Tower, Naruto still clinging to him, and quickly found an empty meeting room. Minato tossed his empty paper cup into a nearby trash can and lifted Naruto to sit on the edge of the round table in the middle of the room to check him over. Finding no obvious injuries—no blood, bruises, broken bones, torn or dirty clothes—he relaxed a little. But only a little.

"Naruto? Naruto, what's wrong?"

His son didn't immediately answer; he just stared down at his fists in his lap. That made Minato worry. And it made him think of various unpleasant things to do to whoever was responsible for this.

"Ero-Sennin…h-he said that…he was going to-to take me away… That you said it was okay." His small fists tightened. "That it was f-for the best."

For a minute, Minato's mind was blank as to what Naruto was talking about. Then he recalled the long, intensive training trip that Jiraiya had planned and felt rather embarrassed. Not only had he completely forgotten about it, he hadn't told Naruto about it either.

And something wasn't matching up with Naruto's reaction. Sure the boy was surprised by this unexpected bit of news, but he shouldn't panic, shouldn't be upset. Naruto loved learning new ninja skills and going to new places—he should be excited, not distraught.

"Yes," Minato nodded slowly, "I gave Jiraiya permission to take you on an extended training trip. I'm sorry that I didn't tell you sooner." He chuckled a little in embarrassment. "I actually forgot all about it."

"Oh, okay…" Naruto wilted a little more, and then straightened up, a broad grin on his face and a hand sheepishly rubbing at the back of his head. "Ha! So that's it, huh? Sorry, I jumped you before, Jiji; I was just really startled."

Minato frowned at his son's smile. He knew it was a lie. Kushina had done that sometimes—smiled wider, or been louder, bolder—to hide what she was really feeling.

It was another subtle, painful reminder that Naruto was her son, too.

"Naruto," the Hokage sighed and rested his hands on his son's small shoulders. "What's bothering you? Even if you think it's really stupid and silly, please tell me."

"I…" The boy's false smile crumpled into something unsure and vulnerable, and then he looked away. "It's… You want me to go. …You're getting rid of me."

_What?!_ Minato gaped for a moment, horrified. "No, no that's not true at all! Why on earth would I want to get rid you?"

"I dunno," Naruto mumbled, shrugging.

"I don't _want_ you to go," Minato frowned. "If things were different, I'd keep you here. I'm really not looking forward to a long time of having no one to come home to. But…" He hesitated for a moment. "You remember when you and Jiraiya left to find Tsunade and Sasuke's older brother and that missing-nin from Kiri tried to abduct you?"

"Yeah," Naruto nodded timidly.

"Well, they belong to a group that calls themselves 'Akatsuki'—and every single one of them is an S-class criminal. They're so powerful that they hunt demons—why they do we don't know yet—and you're on their list. They want the Kyuubi, and they'll keep coming back until they get it."

Minato swallowed and moved to sit beside Naruto on the edge of the table.

"The purpose of this trip is for Jiraiya to keep you hidden from them and to make you stronger so that when the day comes that you confront them, you'll be able to defend yourself. I'd train you myself if I could, but unfortunately I have a village to run; Jiraiya-sensei has the freedom to give you all the attention you need to get you ready. Originally he wanted to take you as soon as you'd recovered from retrieving Sasuke, but I talked him into waiting a while."

Naruto was quiet for a few minutes, before he peered up at his father curiously. "So…when am I going to be leaving?"

"After the next Chuunin Exam," Minato answered. "Considering how well you did last time, I wanted you to have the opportunity to try again. If you'd left right away with Jiraiya-sensei there'd be no way to arrange your participation for…a long time."

The boy scratched his nose and frowned thoughtfully. "Kakashi-sensei said that the next exams will be in Kumo. Are they still going to be there after…?"

"Yes, Kumo still has the exam," the Hokage nodded. "Everything should be ironed out by the time the tests start, though it'll still probably rather tense and awkward to be there."

Naruto squirmed. "Since Sasuke isn't…well…how's it going to work?"

"Don't worry," Minato smiled. "I should have everything worked out before it's time to leave for the exam." Eager to get to a less serious (but no less important) subject, he asked: "So how has your birthday been? Besides Jiraiya-sensei freaking you out."

"It's been…nice. And weird." Naruto wrinkled his nose. "I mean…everyone but Sasuke showed up!"

Naruto's surprise that anyone would show up to a party for him (even a surprise party that he had no clue about) reminded Minato of Naruto's second-worst birthday ever. When Naruto began attending the Academy and regularly interacting with people his own age, he heard all about their birthday parties and decided he wanted to have one too. So for his seventh birthday, he got permission to have some classmates over, put together invitations and gave them out. Most kids said they couldn't come because their families already had plans for that date, but a few had said that they would come. Uchiha Itachi had volunteered to be the adult overseeing the party (as Minato was stuck at the festival) and had planned to bring his little brother along.

But then Sasuke caught the flu and couldn't come. And when Minato got home that evening after the festival, he found that none of the children, who had said that they were going to show up, had actually come. Naruto had been horribly disappointed and gloomy for a good week afterwards, and never asked to invite people over for his birthday again.

"They just came right up to the door!" Naruto continued. "And then there were all these snacks in the cabinets that weren't there yesterday…"

"Snacks are a handy thing to have when company comes calling," Minato grinned.

Naruto blinked. "…And they even gave me presents and came to the festival with me…" He squinted suspiciously at the Hokage. "Jiji, did you tell them to come over?"

"No," Minato chuckled. "They asked me if they could come over. They wanted to surprise you for your birthday. I take it that you were surprised."

"…They wanted to come over?"

"Is it really so hard to believe? They're your friends, aren't they? Why _wouldn't_ they want to come over and help you celebrate your birthday?"

Naruto didn't answer; his eyes dropped to the floor and his hand unconsciously came to rest over his stomach.

_…Might as well get this over with._ "Some of them know, Naruto," he said softly. "I told them."

His son stared up at him, stricken. "You told them?!"

"They saw you stand up to the Nekomata. Either I explained it to them, or they would've come to you to find out how."

"But…" Naruto floundered.

"Some of them suspected something already. They are ninja, Naruto. They started to notice things, things that made them stop and think, and they began to look 'underneath the underneath'…"

Naruto was doing a fantastic impression of a fish the way his mouth was opening and closing, yet no sound was coming out.

"I told Shikamaru, Ino, Hinata, Neji, Shino, and Tenten," Minato continued. "Sasuke knows only what you've shown him. The rest know nothing. It's entirely up to you when and what to tell them."

"I don't wanna tell them—"

"Ino and Shikamaru know, and they were the main force in planning out today. All your friends came to see you today—whether they know about it or not—of their own free will. They don't care about the fox."

Naruto just looked dumbfounded.

"Now," Minato smiled, "did they show you a good time at the festival so far?"

The boy nodded mutely.

"Well, what sort of things have you done?"

Naruto didn't immediately answer, but when he had pulled himself together enough to reply, there was a knock on the meeting room door.

Minato sighed. "Yes?"

"Hokage-sama," an ANBU called through the door. "People are starting to wonder where you've gone."

"Already? But we just got in here," the Hokage muttered. "I'll be out in a few minutes!" he called to his ninja. He turned to Naruto. "Now, what were you going to say?"

"Uh…we mostly just walked around and ate junk and talked…" The boy shrugged and hopped off the table. "I'm okay now. You don't have to hide away with me back here."

"Are you sure?" Minato frowned. "I really don't mind. You're a lot more interesting than most of the people out there waiting for me."

Naruto rubbed at the back of his head, torn between being embarrassed and pleased. "I'm fine," he insisted. "I should go back out anyway. I sort of ditched everyone when I ran off to find you."

"Okay," the Hokage chuckled and followed Naruto out of the room. "You're jingling," he noted as they headed for the exit. "I thought that you were an escaped cat until you hit me."

"Kakashi-sensei gave me bells as a present," Naruto shrugged as they emerged into the waning afternoon light.

"Bells, eh?" Minato snapped his fingers. "That reminds me…" He reached into his kunai pouch and pulled out a small scroll. "Here you go, Naruto. Happy birthday!"

His son eagerly took the scroll and unfurled it. Instead of finding instruction on a jutsu, like he was probably expecting, he found the complex ring of symbols and formula of a storage scroll. The kanji at the center of the circle that was supposed to identify what was sealed inside was "blade"—which was thoroughly unhelpful. Naruto scowled at it.

"Well, aren't you going to take it out and look at it?" Minato asked.

Naruto wordlessly set the scroll on the ground to get it flat, placed his palm in the middle of the circle, and pushed chakra into it to break the seal. There was a pop and a puff of white smoke, and when that cleared away the "blade" was revealed. It was a small sword—larger than the Hatake "White Fang" (which was really an oversized knife), but smaller than the sword used by the ANBU. The sheath was decorated with swirled patterns, and at the point where the blade connected to the hilt was a white spiral carved from some kind of ivory. When Naruto drew the weapon from its sheath, the metal of the blade—while not particularly shiny, as shiny was bad for ninja weapons; shiny was not stealthy—seemed to almost glow blue.

The blonde genin gaped at the sword, clearly impressed.

"Where did you get that?!"

Minato blinked and looked over to see Tenten practically drooling at the sight of the weapon in Naruto's hands. Clustered around her was the rest of Naruto's little posse, all equally awed by his new blade. Naruto jumped, apparently startled that the friends that he'd ditched had caught up with him.

"You gave him that?" Jiraiya asked, standing near the cluster of genin (and one chuunin) and clearly half-way inebriated.

"Huh?" Tsunade peered around Jiraiya's broad shoulder, a cup of sake still in her hand. "Ooh! Kushina-chan's sword!"

"Who's sword?" Kiba asked, squinting at the weapon.

"Uzumaki Kushina, his mother." Minato informed them, firmly ignoring the dull ache in his chest. He turned to Naruto, only half-forcing his smile. "Now that you're a genin, an official ninja, I think I can trust you to handle that responsibly, right?"

Naruto nodded vigorously, his eyes as round as dinner plates.

"His mother was a ninja?" Sakura asked.

"Yes," the Hokage nodded. "She didn't use that sword often, but it was very important to her. Her home country was wiped out in the wars, and that weapon was one of the only things she was able to take with her when she fled from the advancing Iwa-nin." He ruffled Naruto's hair. "She'd want you to have it."

Naruto almost looked like he was going to cry a bit. He carefully sheathed the sword and sealed it back into the scroll. After rolling it back up, he stuffed it down the front of his yukata and then gave his father's middle a crushing hug.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome, Naruto."

The boy lingered for a moment longer, and then broke off to vanish with his friends. Minato sighed and watched him go until he couldn't pick him out of the crowd anymore. Sighing again, he turned to his former teacher and frowned.

"Isn't it a bit early to be getting into so much sake?"

"Nah!" Jiraiya laughed.

"Loosen up, why don't you?" Tsunade snorted. "It's a festival. Enjoy it!"

"What am I going to do with you two?" Minato wondered despairingly.

"Join us?" Jiraiya offered, holding out a small bottle of rice wine.

"No, thanks," Minato grumbled and pushed the bottle away.

"You're no fun," Tsunade pouted. "Just like the brat. He didn' want any either."

Minato blinked. "…What?"

"We offered Naruto some and he didn't want any," Jiraiya shrugged.

"You did _what_?!"

"I'll get him next year," Jiraiya grinned, quite oblivious to his former student's darkening expression.

"You'll do what?!"

"I wonder who he's inherited his alcohol tolerance from," Tsunade mused, staring into her glass. "I'd feel sorry for him if he turns out to be like Mina-chan."

"That would be a shame," Jiraiya gravely agreed. "Under the table before the first bottle is empty…a real tragedy."

"Hey!"

"We can only hope he can hold his liquor like Kushina-chan," Tsunade sighed.

"We can only hope," Jiraiya nodded and tossed back another drink.

Minato buried his face in his hands and groaned. _Why can't it be time for the fireworks already?_

* * *

Naruto grinned like a maniac as another burst of fireworks exploded over his head. His dad had let him and his friends sit at the top of the Tower to watch the pyrotechnic show the closed the Kyuubi Festival, and it was awesome. It was a much better view than he'd ever managed to get the previous years when he'd stayed shut up in the house.

This was, hands down, the best birthday he'd ever had. He'd gotten cool stuff, his friends had come over, he'd gone to the festival and not started a riot, he'd hung out with his dad, and he'd gotten his mother's sword. It was so great that he didn't even mind the few little rough patches that had come up.

Dinner had been interesting. With all the eating he'd done earlier in the day he hadn't been terribly hungry, but he'd still found a few things to nibble on while he sat with his father. It was the conversation during the meal that really caught his attention.

They'd sat with several of his friends and their families—Kiba's mom and sister, Shikamaru's parents, Ino's parents, and Hinata's father and sister. Somehow his father's first meeting with his mother had come up, and apparently it involved her punching him in the face and breaking his nose. Naruto wouldn't have believed it if his father hadn't gotten horribly embarrassed and demanded a change in subject.

_I gotta remember to ask Ero-Sennin about that story,_ Naruto decided. _Maybe tomorrow…_

The grand finale of the fireworks show started up, and for a full minute it was solid explosions. Every color and style of pyrotechnic flashed through the air and every window in the village rattled. Then it all stopped and there was nothing but lingering clouds of smoke and the reek of gunpowder in the air. And then came the applause.

"Awesome!" Naruto breathed.

"I take it that you enjoyed the show," his father chuckled as he came through the trapdoor.

Everyone agreed, their voices tripping over each other as they expressed how cool it was and how grateful they were for being allowed to watch it up here.

"Well I'm glad that you all had fun," the Hokage smiled and stepped aside so that they could descend down the stairs into the Tower and get back down to ground level. "But it's late and the festival is over; you should probably join up with your families and head home."

There was a chaotic round of good-byes as all his friends—a bit wound up from the rousing fireworks show—tried to get to him at once. Hinata, Neji, and Shino were polite and formal. Lee was loud and enthusiastic with at least two mentions of "Youth!" while Tenten tried to squeeze a word in edgewise. Kiba punched him in the shoulder and called him a pipsqueak while Akamaru licked his face. Ino and Sakura barely managed to fit a "bye-bye" in-between an argument they'd gotten into over something girly. Chouji probably said goodbye, but his mouth was full of chips so it was hard to tell. And Shikamaru just yawned and waved.

And then he was alone…almost.

"So was today a good day?" his dad asked.

"The best!" Naruto cried, bouncing.

The Hokage smiled. "Great!"

Naruto grinned back and cheerfully followed his father down the stairs, through the Tower, and out into the streets towards home. It was really too bad that he wouldn't be around for the next few Kyuubi Festivals. But after he came back from wandering and training with Ero-Sennin, it would be even better.

_I'm glad Jiji didn't find a mission for me to do today. Staying here turned out to be a lot more fun! Too bad I never tried to come back to the Festival sooner…_

"Have any plans for tomorrow?"

Naruto scratched at his cheek thoughtfully. "Do you think I could try a _Katon_ jutsu, so I can set toad oil on fire?"

"We'll see," his dad grinned and messed up his hair. "It not tomorrow, then soon."

"Okay," Naruto agreed.

So long as he learned it before it was time to leave for the Kumo exams, he didn't mind waiting. It was a shame that he and Sakura wouldn't be able to go through the exams with Sasuke like he wanted to, but it was stupid to hold back and wait for him to get himself back together and get through his suspension and probation. That would take years and all his friends would leave him in their dust.

Besides, his dad thought he could do it, so he would.


	26. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

Naruto yawned and rubbed at his eyes as he slouched at the village gates. The sun had barely risen and he would much rather be in bed, sleeping for at least another hour. But it was time to go.

He shifted his pack on his shoulders and frowned a bit. Even though he loved it, it felt so very weird wearing the dull green flak vest of a chuunin. Maybe it was because he was so small that even the smallest size vest that they made was a bit big on him.

_I'll grow into it,_ Naruto knew. _Dad said that he was on the small side until he got to be about fourteen. Hopefully I'll hit a growth spurt soon; I'm tired of always being the shortest._

Earning his vest had been tough, but well worth it.

It had been really weird to visit another "hidden village." Kumogakure no Sato was buried deep in the mountains, halfway up one of the taller peaks. It was shrouded in clouds a lot, and chilly, and the deep valley below suffered terrible storms. Naruto might've enjoyed it more, though, if it wasn't full of ninja that had tried to kidnap Hinata twice (he didn't care if the second time wasn't "Raikage-approved").

Thankfully the three tests of the exam hadn't been too much different from Konoha's exam, so Naruto hadn't had to worry about being hit with something completely new. The written exam still required cheating, and the last question was a trick (although a different one). The survival exam depended on collecting three different kinds of artifacts instead of acquiring two kinds of scrolls. And the final round (and the preliminaries for it) had been an individual tournament—no surprise there.

Naruto sighed. _Too bad Sasuke couldn't come…_

Sasuke's replacement hadn't been too terrible, all things considered. But Naruto just didn't like him. He bore a striking, but superficial resemblance to Sasuke…and he was so freaky and weird! He didn't smile, there was never any emotion in his voice, and the only socializing he did was hang out with his "brother" (who was clearly not related to him)—who happened to fill Shikamaru's empty space on Team 10. And then he—no-name Sai—had randomly asked Naruto a lot of strange questions about friends a few days before the finals were supposed to start.

He also asked after Naruto's penis.

If the guy hadn't been as competent and useful as he was, Naruto would've absolutely hated him.

_I'm so glad that I'm never going to see him again…_

He was also very glad that he wasn't likely to see any of the Iwa-genin who had taken part in the exam anytime soon, if ever again. There had barely been any genin from Iwagakure in Konoha's exam because of all the bad blood between their villages, but Kumo was not Konoha so there had been plenty of participants from the Stone Village. They'd been a mean bunch and tried to bully any Leaf-nin they came across.

Naruto, above all others, had been singled out. They threatened him, tried to intimidate him, tried to pick fights with him in Kumo's streets (regardless of the fact that they'd be disqualified from the exams, too), and they went after his team relentlessly in the second exam. His second opponent in the finals had been an Iwa-nin, and he hadn't tried to beat Naruto, he'd tried to flat out kill him. Even when the proctor called the match in Naruto's favored and ordered the Iwa-genin to stop, the boy hadn't stopped. He took some kind of pill that made him impervious to pain and drove him berserk. The Iwa-genin actually broke the proctor's leg before falling on Naruto like a wild beast. Only by tapping into some of the fox's power and fatally wounding the other boy had Naruto survived.

_"You bastard!"_ the boy had snarled wildly, even as he'd lain broken and bleeding to death on the ground and restrained by medics who were fighting in vain to save him. _"Iwa will g-grind you…into __**crow food**__! We'll __**crush**__ you! …You…hear…!"_

Naruto shivered and pushed the memory away.

**Why feel regret? That wretch demanded his own death by trying to kill you—and therefore **_**me**_**! He is no longer a problem.**

_Shut up!_

"Hey, brat! Ready to go?"

"Yeah, Ero-Sennin; sure," Naruto huffed.

It didn't matter that no one was around to see him off. They had other stuff to do, and he'd said his good-byes already. His little promotion celebration (which had also celebrated Neji's and Shino's promotions to chuunin as well), had doubled as a going-away party for him.

Sasuke had even shown up for a while, although he'd been a complete mope-y sourpuss about everything.

"Quit calling me that!" the Sannin fumed, shaking his large fist. "I'm your sensei, damn it! Show some respect!"

"Okay, Ero-sensei."

"Gah!" the white-haired man wailed. "Let's just go! We've got a lot of ground to cover today."

Naruto sighed and nodded. As he followed his new teacher's lead out of the village gates, he paused and looked back. Even with most of the village in his way, he could still see the great Hokage Tower looming over everything.

He raised his fist to it and grinned.

_When I come back, I'll be ten times as awesome, Dad! Just you wait and see! I'll make you proud of me…_

_I promise._

**-END-**

* * *

* * *

**NOTE:** Firstly…please don't kill me.

…

…

And now:

1) _Why have I skipped over Kumo's exams?_

Simply, I don't want to write them. To cover the Chuunin Exams, I'd have to go through all the tests, write lots of different fights (I hate writing fights, they're so hard to pace and make clear and interesting!), and invent a whole stable of OCs (which is also hard—the more characters you have to invent, the worse it is). So I've skipped over them and let you know the results.

2) _Will I go back and write about Kumo's exams some time in the future?_

…Maybe. And when I say "maybe", I mean a HUGE "maybe". It's a possibility, but no promises on "if" or "when".

3) _Will I write a sequel with SHIPPUUDEN events?_

…Another huge maybe. And probably only after _Shippuuden_ ends, so I know ALL of what happens, and what I want and don't want to use. So not anytime soon, if ever.

I do have in mind a possible one-shot set far in the future (post-_Shippuuden_)…but we'll see.

---

Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed it!

…And if you _didn't_ enjoy it, why the heck did you read it all the way to the end?


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